


How Did We Get Into This Mess?

by Mystical_Magician



Category: Cardcaptor Sakura, Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Magic Knight Rayearth, Xanth - Piers Anthony
Genre: Action/Adventure, Angst, Character Death, Crossover, F/M, Fantasy, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-08-28
Updated: 2012-08-28
Packaged: 2017-11-13 04:09:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 46,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/499305
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mystical_Magician/pseuds/Mystical_Magician
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The CCS gang become teachers and create havoc wherever they go!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. New Teachers

**Author's Note:**

> One of my first big fanfics ever, and my first HP/CCS crossover. Possibly my first crossover ever. Which means it's old, some people may be a bit OOC, and grammar may not be quite up to snuff. But it's still fun!

The Great Hall was alive with the sound of students talking and shouting to one another. The 1st years had just been sorted and the feast had begun. A certain boy with unruly black hair and a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead was chatting with two of his friends, one of which was shoving a piece of pork in his mouth.

"Who's the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher this year? I don't see any new teachers. If anything, a few are missing," said Ron around his mouthful of food.

"They must be helping Dumbledore, like Hagrid. And the new teachers are probably just late," replied Harry.

"At least Snape isn't the DADA teacher," said Hermione, taking a drink from her cup.

"How can you tell?" questioned Harry.

"Look at him. He looks just as sour as any other year," pointed out Hermione. "If anything, more so."

"So what positions are going to be filled?" asked Harry.

"Besides DADA, there's Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies," answered Ron.

"I also heard there was going to be a club once a week. Karate, or something to help defend us without magic," interrupted Hermione. "I might try it. It'll be useful since we can't use magic outside of school yet."

"Maybe I'll try that too," said Harry in interest. "You should come too, Ron."

"Sure, I guess. But I don't see the point. I'd rather just use magic. Didn't you notice that there are more extra chairs than teaching positions to fill?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry.

They were interrupted from their conversation by a racket near the Weasley twins. They had snuck a Ton Tongue Toffee into a 6th year's, Ryan's, food.

Things had just calmed down when a group of people appeared in the air near the ceiling and began to fall. At least, Harry assumed they were near the ceiling, since the illusion of the sky made it hard to tell. It was such a surprising and shocking sight that every person in the hall was silent, a thing that had never happened in Harry's time.

Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol, Syaoran, Yue, and Keroberos were surprised to find themselves teleported into the air above the Great Hall. Yue and Kero automatically opened their wings and halted their fall. Kero then grabbed the closest human which, much to his chagrin, was Syaoran. Syaoran wasn't too happy with the arrangement either.

Eriol used his magic to float himself safely to the ground.

Sakura called upon Fly, using minimal concentration to put the wings on the staff instead of herself. With a maneuver that had been much practiced, she dove right under Tomoyo and managed to catch her on the shaft of the staff behind her.

"Daijoubu desu ka, Tomoyo-chan?" asked Sakura, turning to look at her friend.

Tomoyo latched onto Sakura's waist while somehow recording the moment. "Sakura-chan! Abunai!"

"HOOOOOEEEEEEE!!"

Sakura turned back to face the front just in time to duck a floating candle. A show full of acrobatics ensued as Sakura dodged and ducked under every candle. She somehow landed in a heap on the floor at the foot of the teachers' table.

"You can open your eyes now, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura's voice rang out in the silence of the Great Hall.

"Who's the baka that put all of those candles in the air?" demanded Tomoyo.

"What I would like to know is what we were _doing_ in the air," said Syaoran, glaring at Eriol.

"That's funny. I could have sworn the cliff that Hogwarts was on was higher," muttered Eriol.

"Perhaps that's because you were _shorter_  then?!" fumed Syaoran.

It was true that Eriol was now 6'1". Syaoran was close on his heels at 5'11 2/3".

Eriol ignored him and turned to Professor Dumbledore. "Good evening Albus. I apologize for being late. We were...er...held up."

"At gun point," chimed in Syaoran sourly.

"Touya just didn't know we were leaving is all," protested Sakura. "Nobody told him until right before we left."

They all winced at the memory. Touya in overprotective mode was bad, but Touya ignorant and then in overprotective mode was even worse. Especially when he found out that Syaoran was going along also.

"He's can be a bit protective at times," added Sakura hesitantly.

"A bit protective she says," said Eriol in a strange high voice. He had faced the brunt of the attack, the whole thing being his idea.

"Hello Clow. Or it's Eriol now, isn't it?" greeted Dumbledore with a chuckle. "I hope you didn't hurt this...Touya."

Eriol choked and sputtered, his usually cool composure gone. " _Me?_ Hurt _him?_ You should be glad _I'm_ still in one piece."

Ron leaned toward Harry, not taking his eyes off the new arrivals. "Don't you think they're a bit...er...strange?"

Harry didn't bother answering and the Great Hall was quiet as they listened to this conversation. Never had a 16 year old talked in such a way to Professor Dumbledore and now this whole group was doing it as if it was no big deal.

Syaoran smirked. "Oh come now Eriol. It wasn't that bad."

Eriol whirled on Syaoran and forced a smile on his face. It looked quite painful.

"Au contraire, my cute little descendant."

This of course set Syaoran off in such a way that it looked like he would explode. He was ready to kill when Tomoyo walked over to him and whispered something in his ear.

"If you don't behave I'll have Sakura kiss you. And I can do it too."

Syaoran face became a fire engine red and he muttered something unintelligible.

Tomoyo giggled and returned to her position next to her best friend.

"What did you say to him?" questioned Sakura in an undertone.

"Oh, just a threat," answered Tomoyo vaguely.

Meanwhile everyone in the Great Hall was somewhat slackjawed at this exchange. Excluding only Dumbledore of course.

"Ah. And this must be Keroberos and Yue," said Dumbledore examining the two who hadn't said a word yet.

Yue inclined his head slightly and Keroberos glanced longingly at the food.

"Yes," replied Sakura. "Yue is ruled by the moon and Kero by the sun. I can have Kero turn back into his false form if you would like, to make more room. But Yue is abot the same size either way and I think he prefers his true form."

"Oh, you don't have to change Keroberos," began the Headmaster, but Kero had already begun the change.

The students watched in awe, as they had never seen anything like it.

They were much less impressed by the flying stuffed animal.

"Is it time to eat yet, Sakura?" whined Kero.

"Kero!" she scolded.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, you may eat after I have introduced you to the students and staff."

Eriol glanced at the other teachers. They were frozen in shock. He leaned closer to the Headmaster and murmured in an undertone, "You didn't tell the professors much about us, did you?"

"Nope," replied Dumbledore, his expression never changing.

Eriol grinned wickedly. "All the more fun for us," he muttered.

"Students and staff," began Dumbledore, magically amplifying his voice. "I present to you your new teachers. Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures. Eriol Hiiragizawa will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Tomoyo Daidouji will be teaching Muggle Studies. Keroberos and Yue will be helping in whichever of the previous classes require them."

"Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun will be along shortly. They had to make a stop in Hong Kong," reminded Eriol.

"Oh yes. We will be having three more arrivals, one of which will be helping Tomoyo in Muggle Studies. Also, Syaoran and one of the arrivals will be teaching a martial arts class one night each week for those who are interested. And Astronomy lessons will be postponed until your new teachers arrive. You may spend that time in your House Commons. Please treat these teachers with respect and be patient. They are learning as you are learning. That is all."

"They're _teachers?_ They're our own age. How can they be teachers?" asked Hermione.

Ron smirked. "Jealous Hermione?"

"Of course not," she snapped. "I'm just curious as to why Dumbledore gave positions to 16 year olds. They must have some talent."

Harry examined the group as they sat at the end of the teachers' table. He noticed that the little stuffed animal - Keroberos was it? - was eating at least three times his weight in food while Yue was eating nothing. They had done nothing special except for using a staff with wings and making a winged lion into a stuffed animal. If anything, they seemed really - well - weird. And Eriol talked to Dumbledore as if he were an equal, which made sense since he was a professor, but none of the teachers talked with him so...so casually.

"Harry? Earth to Harry. Hello!"

Harry suddenly became aware of Ron waving a hand in front of his face.

"What're ya doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to figure out what's so special about them," replied Harry absently. "They just seem weird."

"Of course it's because they have power," explained Hermione superiorly.

"Why do you say that?" growled Ron.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! You can't apparate into Hogwarts! It either took a lot of power or they did something other than apparate which shouldn't really be possible. At least, not to my knowledge." Hermione frowned. "And have you seen their wands?"

Ron and Harry shook their heads.

"That's because they don't have them or don't use them. They've already done a few spells with no wands, and those aren't any spells I've ever seen."

"Please Hermione. It's too early in the year for mysteries," interrupted Ron.

"And it's getting late," added Harry. "Let's think about this tomorrow. They might explain it during class, anyway."

At that moment everyone stood and filed into their Houses. School would soon begin again.

"Sakura. WAKE UP!"

"Hoooeee! I'm going to be late!"

"I knew setting her clock back would help," muttered Kero.

And on that cheerful note the first day of school began.

Sakura walked out of Dumbledore's office and joined Syaoran as they walked down the hall and outside. They bypassed Eriol on the way out.

"Good luck," he said with a wave.

"Oh Eriol," said Sakura. "Professor Dumbledore told me to tell you to go easy on your class."

Eriol grinned benignly. "Of course," he reassured her.

Eriol walked into the classroom with his usual smile. "Class will begin now," he said calmly in a voice that carried.

The 5th year Ravenclaws and Slytherins sat at attention. Well, the Slytherins actually weren't paying much attention.

Malfoy was speaking in an undertone to his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Do you have something to share?" questioned Eriol mildly.

Malfoy smirked. "I was wondering what _you_ could teach us. You're the same age as us. Dumbledore must be more off the hook than I thought."

Eriol smiled indulgently, while inwardly seething. "It was no mistake that we were made professors. Tomoyo, Syaoran, and I have more powers each, than this whole classroom put together. And Sakura has more power than this whole school put together with some left over. She could turn into a - say - ferret, without a thought."

Malfoy turned red and white alternately. "How did you...How did...," he spluttered incoherently.

"Let's just say it's a gift of mine," Eriol said with an evil smile.

He continued on with the lesson. "Today I will be talking about how crystals can be used to store extra energy, so that you can be aware should you be dealing with a person who actually has more stored up their sleeves than you bargained for. For this exercise I will need to use Keroberos."

"You mean that big golden lion with wings?" called out a Ravenclaw.

"Yes," answered Eriol. "Watch carefully and you might learn something."

He summoned his staff and moved it in an oval equal to his height.

The class gasped as a picture appeared and sound with it.

"Sakura?" he called out and was amused at the scene that met his eyes.

Sakura's first class of the day was the 5th year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. She was relieved since they were the same age. It would have been awkward if she had started with an older class.

"You're teacher Hagrid left us with chimaeras to begin with," she said and led them to a wooden pen.

The class looked dubiously at the creature that was part goat, lion, and snake.

Sakura jumped gracefully over the fence and Syaoran sat on it, while Yue and Keroberos watched from a distance.

"Before anyone gets near the chimaera wait for me to equip you with a spell against fire, in case he becomes frightened, hurt, or angry."

Just then she noticed a bee hovering around one of the chimaera's heads. He extended its tail to bat it away. This angered the bee and he returned to sting his nose. The chimaera roared and charged the nearest person, which happened to be Sakura.

Sakura held her ground and knocked him aside with her staff. The chimaera shook its head and then charged again, bathing her in fire. The class gasped in fright not quite believing that the fire-proof spell would hold. Luckily, it did.

Meanwhile Syaoran was doubled over in laughter on the fence, in danger of falling off.

Hermione leaned toward Harry.

"Shouldn't he be helping his partner?" she whispered.

Syaoran heard her. "Oh, she can take care of herself," he said easily. His sharp eyes noted that Harry was gripping his wand tightly. "Don't even think of going in there," he warned. "We don't want to have to protect you, too."

Harry reddened in embarrassment.

"I thought it was supposed to be friendly," called out a terrified Hufflepuff.

"It was stung. Its nose is extra sensitive and when hurt it impairs its judgment," replied Sakura while fending it off.

Just then an oval shaped picture appeared in the air of Eriol and a stone background with a murmur of voices in the background.

"Sakura?" he called.

"Who's that? What's that?" The murmuring was growing louder.

"Nani?!" snapped Sakura, accidentally slipping into Japanese.

"I was going to ask you something, but if you're busy..."

"I can't think with you talking to me, the class asking questions at the most inopportune time, and this chimaera with impaired judgement!" cried out Sakura, irritated.

She turned to the chimaera once more. "Will you shut up! I've faced worse than you on a good day of cardcaptoring! The last thing I need for my first day of teaching is you with an attitude!!"

The chimaera calmed down, mollified, and then returned to eating the grass.

"You know," said Eriol conversationally, "you could have frozen it with your magic."

She spun on the portal. "I said I couldn't think with your incessant yapping!" Sakura took a deep breath. "So what did you want?" she asked in a friendly voice.

"Um," began Eriol disconcerted. "Can I borrow Kero?"

"Sure, if Kero wants to go." Sakura turned to where Kero was standing. "Eriol wants your help."

Kero smirked. "Of course." He wandered over to the portal and leaped through, landing gracefully next to Eriol.

The portal disappeared.

Li shook tears of mirth from his eyes and then said, "Who wants to meet the chimaera first?"

The class looked at him silently, not moving an inch.

Finally Harry stepped forward. "I'll try," he said timidly, remembering how Li had rebuked him. He would whow them that he was no coward. After all, he had defeated Voldemort 5 times.

Sakura smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Harry Potter."

"Just hold still while I cast the spell," she told him.

Harry felt a pleasant coolness descend over him and shivered slightly.

"There," said Sakura. She frowned and pushed back his bangs. "How'd you get that scar? Do you want me to heal it?"

Harry stared at her. Was it possible that she had never heard of him? He had thought every witch and wizard knew his name.

Ron asked the question for him.

"How could you not know the famous Harry Potter?" he demanded.

Sakura and Li looked at him blankly. "He's famous?" asked Li.

"Wait. Isn't he one of the reasons Dumbledore hired us? To protect..." Sakura stopped when she realized she had been speaking out loud. Luckily Harry was the only one close enough to hear.

"Oops," she muttered weakly.

"Okay," began Li. "Come over here and stand in front of him. Let him catch your scent and intentions."

"Hey," called out a Gryffindor, "why did the chimaera try to kill Bellerophon and the villagers in that myth?"

"Well, wouldn't you retaliate if everyone was trying to kill you?" demanded Li.

 

I've always liked Harry Potter/CCS crossovers for some reason and now I finally have an idea for one. Kinda. I have no idea what to write after this first chapter. Maybe you can give me some ideas. And for the purposes of my story Harry and co. and the Cardcaptor group is 16. Except for Kero, Yue, Ruby, and Spinel whose ages don't really matter. Read on.

The Great Hall was alive with the sound of students talking and shouting to one another. The 1st years had just been sorted and the feast had begun. A certain boy with unruly black hair and a scar in the shape of a lightning bolt on his forehead was chatting with two of his friends, one of which was shoving a piece of pork in his mouth.

"Who's the new Defense Against Dark Arts teacher this year? I don't see any new teachers. If anything, a few are missing," said Ron around his mouthful of food.

"They must be helping Dumbledore, like Hagrid. And the new teachers are probably just late," replied Harry.

"At least Snape isn't the DADA teacher," said Hermione, taking a drink from her cup.

"How can you tell?" questioned Harry.

"Look at him. He looks just as sour as any other year," pointed out Hermione. "If anything, more so."

"So what positions are going to be filled?" asked Harry.

"Besides DADA, there's Care of Magical Creatures and Muggle Studies," answered Ron.

"I also heard there was going to be a club once a week. Karate, or something to help defend us without magic," interrupted Hermione. "I might try it. It'll be useful since we can't use magic outside of school yet."

"Maybe I'll try that too," said Harry in interest. "You should come too, Ron."

"Sure, I guess. But I don't see the point. I'd rather just use magic. Didn't you notice that there are more extra chairs than teaching positions to fill?"

"Oh yeah," said Harry.

They were interrupted from their conversation by a racket near the Weasley twins. They had snuck a Ton Tongue Toffee into a 6th year's, Ryan's, food.

Things had just calmed down when a group of people appeared in the air near the ceiling and began to fall. At least, Harry assumed they were near the ceiling, since the illusion of the sky made it hard to tell. It was such a surprising and shocking sight that every person in the hall was silent, a thing that had never happened in Harry's time.

Sakura, Tomoyo, Eriol, Syaoran, Yue, and Keroberos were surprised to find themselves teleported into the air above the Great Hall. Yue and Kero automatically opened their wings and halted their fall. Kero then grabbed the closest human which, much to his chagrin, was Syaoran. Syaoran wasn't too happy with the arrangement either.

Eriol used his magic to float himself safely to the ground.

Sakura called upon Fly, using minimal concentration to put the wings on the staff instead of herself. With a maneuver that had been much practiced, she dove right under Tomoyo and managed to catch her on the shaft of the staff behind her.

"Daijoubu desu ka, Tomoyo-chan?" asked Sakura, turning to look at her friend.

Tomoyo latched onto Sakura's waist while somehow recording the moment. "Sakura-chan! Abunai!"

"HOOOOOEEEEEEE!!"

Sakura turned back to face the front just in time to duck a floating candle. A show full of acrobatics ensued as Sakura dodged and ducked under every candle. She somehow landed in a heap on the floor at the foot of the teachers' table.

"You can open your eyes now, Tomoyo-chan." Sakura's voice rang out in the silence of the Great Hall.

"Who's the baka that put all of those candles in the air?" demanded Tomoyo.

"What I would like to know is what we were _doing_ in the air," said Syaoran, glaring at Eriol.

"That's funny. I could have sworn the cliff that Hogwarts was on was higher," muttered Eriol.

"Perhaps that's because you were _shorter_  then?!" fumed Syaoran.

It was true that Eriol was now 6'1". Syaoran was close on his heels at 5'11 2/3".

Eriol ignored him and turned to Professor Dumbledore. "Good evening Albus. I apologize for being late. We were...er...held up."

"At gun point," chimed in Syaoran sourly.

"Touya just didn't know we were leaving is all," protested Sakura. "Nobody told him until right before we left."

They all winced at the memory. Touya in overprotective mode was bad, but Touya ignorant and then in overprotective mode was even worse. Especially when he found out that Syaoran was going along also.

"He's can be a bit protective at times," added Sakura hesitantly.

"A bit protective she says," said Eriol in a strange high voice. He had faced the brunt of the attack, the whole thing being his idea.

"Hello Clow. Or it's Eriol now, isn't it?" greeted Dumbledore with a chuckle. "I hope you didn't hurt this...Touya."

Eriol choked and sputtered, his usually cool composure gone. " _Me?_ Hurt _him?_ You should be glad _I'm_ still in one piece."

Ron leaned toward Harry, not taking his eyes off the new arrivals. "Don't you think they're a bit...er...strange?"

Harry didn't bother answering and the Great Hall was quiet as they listened to this conversation. Never had a 16 year old talked in such a way to Professor Dumbledore and now this whole group was doing it as if it was no big deal.

Syaoran smirked. "Oh come now Eriol. It wasn't that bad."

Eriol whirled on Syaoran and forced a smile on his face. It looked quite painful.

"Au contraire, my cute little descendant."

This of course set Syaoran off in such a way that it looked like he would explode. He was ready to kill when Tomoyo walked over to him and whispered something in his ear.

"If you don't behave I'll have Sakura kiss you. And I can do it too."

Syaoran face became a fire engine red and he muttered something unintelligible.

Tomoyo giggled and returned to her position next to her best friend.

"What did you say to him?" questioned Sakura in an undertone.

"Oh, just a threat," answered Tomoyo vaguely.

Meanwhile everyone in the Great Hall was somewhat slackjawed at this exchange. Excluding only Dumbledore of course.

"Ah. And this must be Keroberos and Yue," said Dumbledore examining the two who hadn't said a word yet.

Yue inclined his head slightly and Keroberos glanced longingly at the food.

"Yes," replied Sakura. "Yue is ruled by the moon and Kero by the sun. I can have Kero turn back into his false form if you would like, to make more room. But Yue is abot the same size either way and I think he prefers his true form."

"Oh, you don't have to change Keroberos," began the Headmaster, but Kero had already begun the change.

The students watched in awe, as they had never seen anything like it.

They were much less impressed by the flying stuffed animal.

"Is it time to eat yet, Sakura?" whined Kero.

"Kero!" she scolded.

Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, you may eat after I have introduced you to the students and staff."

Eriol glanced at the other teachers. They were frozen in shock. He leaned closer to the Headmaster and murmured in an undertone, "You didn't tell the professors much about us, did you?"

"Nope," replied Dumbledore, his expression never changing.

Eriol grinned wickedly. "All the more fun for us," he muttered.

"Students and staff," began Dumbledore, magically amplifying his voice. "I present to you your new teachers. Sakura Kinomoto and Syaoran Li will be teaching Care of Magical Creatures. Eriol Hiiragizawa will teach Defense Against the Dark Arts, and Tomoyo Daidouji will be teaching Muggle Studies. Keroberos and Yue will be helping in whichever of the previous classes require them."

"Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun will be along shortly. They had to make a stop in Hong Kong," reminded Eriol.

"Oh yes. We will be having three more arrivals, one of which will be helping Tomoyo in Muggle Studies. Also, Syaoran and one of the arrivals will be teaching a martial arts class one night each week for those who are interested. And Astronomy lessons will be postponed until your new teachers arrive. You may spend that time in your House Commons. Please treat these teachers with respect and be patient. They are learning as you are learning. That is all."

"They're _teachers?_ They're our own age. How can they be teachers?" asked Hermione.

Ron smirked. "Jealous Hermione?"

"Of course not," she snapped. "I'm just curious as to why Dumbledore gave positions to 16 year olds. They must have some talent."

Harry examined the group as they sat at the end of the teachers' table. He noticed that the little stuffed animal - Keroberos was it? - was eating at least three times his weight in food while Yue was eating nothing. They had done nothing special except for using a staff with wings and making a winged lion into a stuffed animal. If anything, they seemed really - well - weird. And Eriol talked to Dumbledore as if he were an equal, which made sense since he was a professor, but none of the teachers talked with him so...so casually.

"Harry? Earth to Harry. Hello!"

Harry suddenly became aware of Ron waving a hand in front of his face.

"What're ya doing?" he asked.

"I'm trying to figure out what's so special about them," replied Harry absently. "They just seem weird."

"Of course it's because they have power," explained Hermione superiorly.

"Why do you say that?" growled Ron.

"How many times do I have to tell you?! You can't apparate into Hogwarts! It either took a lot of power or they did something other than apparate which shouldn't really be possible. At least, not to my knowledge." Hermione frowned. "And have you seen their wands?"

Ron and Harry shook their heads.

"That's because they don't have them or don't use them. They've already done a few spells with no wands, and those aren't any spells I've ever seen."

"Please Hermione. It's too early in the year for mysteries," interrupted Ron.

"And it's getting late," added Harry. "Let's think about this tomorrow. They might explain it during class, anyway."

At that moment everyone stood and filed into their Houses. School would soon begin again.

"Sakura. WAKE UP!"

"Hoooeee! I'm going to be late!"

"I knew setting her clock back would help," muttered Kero.

And on that cheerful note the first day of school began.

Sakura walked out of Dumbledore's office and joined Syaoran as they walked down the hall and outside. They bypassed Eriol on the way out.

"Good luck," he said with a wave.

"Oh Eriol," said Sakura. "Professor Dumbledore told me to tell you to go easy on your class."

Eriol grinned benignly. "Of course," he reassured her.

Eriol walked into the classroom with his usual smile. "Class will begin now," he said calmly in a voice that carried.

The 5th year Ravenclaws and Slytherins sat at attention. Well, the Slytherins actually weren't paying much attention.

Malfoy was speaking in an undertone to his cronies, Crabbe and Goyle.

"Do you have something to share?" questioned Eriol mildly.

Malfoy smirked. "I was wondering what _you_ could teach us. You're the same age as us. Dumbledore must be more off the hook than I thought."

Eriol smiled indulgently, while inwardly seething. "It was no mistake that we were made professors. Tomoyo, Syaoran, and I have more powers each, than this whole classroom put together. And Sakura has more power than this whole school put together with some left over. She could turn into a - say - ferret, without a thought."

Malfoy turned red and white alternately. "How did you...How did...," he spluttered incoherently.

"Let's just say it's a gift of mine," Eriol said with an evil smile.

He continued on with the lesson. "Today I will be talking about how crystals can be used to store extra energy, so that you can be aware should you be dealing with a person who actually has more stored up their sleeves than you bargained for. For this exercise I will need to use Keroberos."

"You mean that big golden lion with wings?" called out a Ravenclaw.

"Yes," answered Eriol. "Watch carefully and you might learn something."

He summoned his staff and moved it in an oval equal to his height.

The class gasped as a picture appeared and sound with it.

"Sakura?" he called out and was amused at the scene that met his eyes.

Sakura's first class of the day was the 5th year Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors. She was relieved since they were the same age. It would have been awkward if she had started with an older class.

"You're teacher Hagrid left us with chimaeras to begin with," she said and led them to a wooden pen.

The class looked dubiously at the creature that was part goat, lion, and snake.

Sakura jumped gracefully over the fence and Syaoran sat on it, while Yue and Keroberos watched from a distance.

"Before anyone gets near the chimaera wait for me to equip you with a spell against fire, in case he becomes frightened, hurt, or angry."

Just then she noticed a bee hovering around one of the chimaera's heads. He extended its tail to bat it away. This angered the bee and he returned to sting his nose. The chimaera roared and charged the nearest person, which happened to be Sakura.

Sakura held her ground and knocked him aside with her staff. The chimaera shook its head and then charged again, bathing her in fire. The class gasped in fright not quite believing that the fire-proof spell would hold. Luckily, it did.

Meanwhile Syaoran was doubled over in laughter on the fence, in danger of falling off.

Hermione leaned toward Harry.

"Shouldn't he be helping his partner?" she whispered.

Syaoran heard her. "Oh, she can take care of herself," he said easily. His sharp eyes noted that Harry was gripping his wand tightly. "Don't even think of going in there," he warned. "We don't want to have to protect you, too."

Harry reddened in embarrassment.

"I thought it was supposed to be friendly," called out a terrified Hufflepuff.

"It was stung. Its nose is extra sensitive and when hurt it impairs its judgment," replied Sakura while fending it off.

Just then an oval shaped picture appeared in the air of Eriol and a stone background with a murmur of voices in the background.

"Sakura?" he called.

"Who's that? What's that?" The murmuring was growing louder.

"Nani?!" snapped Sakura, accidentally slipping into Japanese.

"I was going to ask you something, but if you're busy..."

"I can't think with you talking to me, the class asking questions at the most inopportune time, and this chimaera with impaired judgement!" cried out Sakura, irritated.

She turned to the chimaera once more. "Will you shut up! I've faced worse than you on a good day of cardcaptoring! The last thing I need for my first day of teaching is you with an attitude!!"

The chimaera calmed down, mollified, and then returned to eating the grass.

"You know," said Eriol conversationally, "you could have frozen it with your magic."

She spun on the portal. "I said I couldn't think with your incessant yapping!" Sakura took a deep breath. "So what did you want?" she asked in a friendly voice.

"Um," began Eriol disconcerted. "Can I borrow Kero?"

"Sure, if Kero wants to go." Sakura turned to where Kero was standing. "Eriol wants your help."

Kero smirked. "Of course." He wandered over to the portal and leaped through, landing gracefully next to Eriol.

The portal disappeared.

Li shook tears of mirth from his eyes and then said, "Who wants to meet the chimaera first?"

The class looked at him silently, not moving an inch.

Finally Harry stepped forward. "I'll try," he said timidly, remembering how Li had rebuked him. He would whow them that he was no coward. After all, he had defeated Voldemort 5 times.

Sakura smiled at him. "What's your name?"

"Harry Potter."

"Just hold still while I cast the spell," she told him.

Harry felt a pleasant coolness descend over him and shivered slightly.

"There," said Sakura. She frowned and pushed back his bangs. "How'd you get that scar? Do you want me to heal it?"

Harry stared at her. Was it possible that she had never heard of him? He had thought every witch and wizard knew his name.

Ron asked the question for him.

"How could you not know the famous Harry Potter?" he demanded.

Sakura and Li looked at him blankly. "He's famous?" asked Li.

"Wait. Isn't he one of the reasons Dumbledore hired us? To protect..." Sakura stopped when she realized she had been speaking out loud. Luckily Harry was the only one close enough to hear.

"Oops," she muttered weakly.

"Okay," began Li. "Come over here and stand in front of him. Let him catch your scent and intentions."

"Hey," called out a Gryffindor, "why did the chimaera try to kill Bellerophon and the villagers in that myth?"

"Well, wouldn't you retaliate if everyone was trying to kill you?" demanded Li.


	2. School Resumes

Eriol introduced Kero to the class and then described the basic properties of the red gem on his forehead.

"Different gems have different properties depending on what the owner wishes it to have. The magic-user stores power or spells in case of an emergency. A little power is sucked into the gem each day they wear it until it's full. Different stones can hold different amounts of power. Nobody knows exactly what types of stones or shapes hold more magic than others since there doesn't seem to be a set pattern."

The class scribbled down notes rapidly as he spoke.

"Now we will study the properties of the stone of someone with a very different personality." He turned to Kero. "Would you please get Yue for me?"

"Sure," agreed Kero amiably and stepped through the portal Eriol created.

Eriol suddenly thought of something and turned to his class. "Why didn't you tell me to turn my staff into a wand? That way you'll learn some spells too."

"We didn't know you could do that," piped up a brave voice.

Eriol gave a bark of laughter. "After drilling this guy," he knocked Malfoy upside the head with his staff none too gently, "about my powers you didn't think I could do a simple trick like this?" He twirled his staff up into the air and as it dropped, still spinning, it also shrank  until he caught it deftly and it had become a wand topped with a miniature sun.

At that moment Yue walked through the portal...

...and into the stone wall.

"CLOW!" he roared with a murderous look in his eye so that none dared laugh at the stone wall imprint on his face. His voice reverberated throughout the whole castle so that those not used to it (the cardcaptor group) looked up in concern.

"What do you...?" began Eriol in a deep voice. He cleared his throat. "Damn it Clow," he growled. "You don't have to stick around that long after you pull that prank."

_ Your body, not mine, _ replied Clow smugly.

"I don't see what you can do since I cut off your powers," began Eriol triumphantly.

Yue didn't even flinch as blue fire erupted from his jewel leaving Eriol scorched and smoking on the floor, his glasses shattered and hanging askew.

Then Yue very calmly stalked out of the room past Tomoyo who had arrived just in time to see what had happened, alerted by Yue's roar.

"Um, isn't that the lesson you just taught us?" asked a student tentatively.

"Oh shut up," muttered Eriol sourly.

Tomoyo laughed and sang a short note so that her enchantress power twined around Eriol, repairing the damage. "You did ask for it you know," she informed him before walking out.

"You shut up too," muttered Eriol sullenly.

"I heard that!" Tomoyo's voice floated back.

It was after dinner that the students were given a rest until the next day.

Harry glanced around making sure that nobody had seen him before pulling out his invisibility cloak. He couldn't forget how Professor Kinomoto had slipped and given him the hint that they had been asked to look after him. Harry wanted to know what was going on and he figured following them would provide him the information he needed.

So he found himself using the Marauder's Map to find the new teachers' rooms. He was lucky that they had all congregated in Professor Kinomoto's room. He slipped in behind Professor Daidouji as she closed the door.

"Really Harry. It's not polite to eavesdrop."

He started and stared at Professor Hiiragizawa.

Eriol turned to the others. "Poor thing isn't used to people seeing auras or having enough magic to see through that cloak, is he?"

"Be nice Eriol," admonished Tomoyo. "Albus said that he lives with his aunt and uncle and from what I've heard, it's a very abusive home."

Sakura frowned. "Why does he have to live with them anyway? I'd be happy to take care of him."

"Please Sakura. We're planning out his life in front of him and he hasn't even said a word. Besides, I want to know what he's doing here. We're not _that_ interesting," said Syaoran.

Harry stared at him in astonishment as the others chuckled.

"Would you like me to list out all of the reasons why we're as strange to these people as we are to - what do you call them - muggles?" questioned Kero.

Syaoran grinned ruefully. "Sorry. I'm just used to it, I guess."

Tomoyo flicked a finger at Harry and the Invisibility Cloak floated up and folded into a little bundle in front of him.

"Tomoyo, I know your affinity with clothes, but I think Harry would like to be able to take his things off by himself," said Sakura with an amused smile.

"It was just a little uncomfortable to see him with that thing on," defended Tomoyo. She turned to Harry. "You're very quiet aren't you?"

"N-not usually. I'm still a bit shocked is all," replied Harry.

Eriol opened the door for him and motioned him out. "If we want you to hear our secrets, we'll tell. Until then you can be as curious as anyone else. Good night, Harry."

"Good night, Professors. And I'm sorry for the trouble I've caused," said Harry, a bit embarrassed.

The door shut behind him as he heard Professor Kinomoto say, "He's sweet, isn't he? We have to do a good job preparing him."

Harry's mind was spinning. Prepare him? For what? But he knew he couldn't eavesdrop again. And he trusted them, for some reason. Maybe it was because of how companionable they were with each other. Like Ron, Hermione, and himself were.

Sakura turned to her companions. "He's sweet, isn't he? We have to do a good job preparing him."

Tomoyo shook her head. "I don't see why we can't just beat this Voldemort guy into oblivion."

"It's his right. They did kill his parents. And besides, he's the Boy Who Lived. What would that do to his reputation if we did his job for him? We can only step in if he's about to get killed," replied Eriol. He changed the subject. "Do any of you know the 5th year Slytherin Draco Malfoy?"

Everyone except for Kero who had helped with the class shook their heads. Yue hadn't stuck around long enough to meet anybody.

He held his hand up horizontal to the floor and concentrated. A miniature picture of Malfoy appeared.

Recognition dawned in Syaoran's eyes. "He's the one I heard talking about the professor who got burnt into a crisp. He sounded very smug." Syaoran smirked.

Eriol coughed. "Yes, well. Don't you think we should do something about the spell his father put on him?"

"Definitely," they all agreed when Eriol fed them the information about Malfoy mentally.

"The students and staff must be absolutely sick of him by now. He's been practically possessed since he was born," commented Eriol.

"Let's try for the day after tomorrow. It's after the full moon and that would help us break the spell," suggested Sakura.

"Sounds all right with me," agreed Tomoyo. She frowned at her camcorder. "Does anyone know how to fix my camcorder? Even with it spelled to work here, it's not working."

"Just give it a good whack," suggested Eriol as he reached for it and dissipated Malfoy's image at the same time.

When Tomoyo pushed Eriol's hand away it distracted him so that he fumbled with the words of the spell. As a result, the purpose changed.

The group jumped when the camcorder gave a large bang. Smoke poured out of it.

"Baka tare!" Tomoyo whacked him upside the head with the camera and then hurriedly took out the video tape. "Oh good," she said relieved. "It's okay."

"I'm not," muttered Eriol gently fingering the bump on his head.

"But what about your camcorder?" asked Sakura in concern.

Tomoyo shrugged carelessly and tossed it into a convenient garbage can. "I brought some extras," she said opening her drawer. Inside were at least ten brand new camcorders.

Sakura sweatdropped.

Syaoran turned to Eriol, who was attempting to shrink the bump, and smirked. "Can't walk and talk at the same time Hiiragizawa?"

Eriol scowled and turned his back on him.

"Oh!" said Tomoyo suddenly. "Nakuru sent a message saying that she would arrive at 7:00."

"What time is it now?" questioned Kero.

"Ten till," replied Yue, speaking for the first time since they had arrived.

"Ten minutes?" asked Sakura knowing that Yue occasionally used the wrong phrase.

"Seconds."

"Konnichiwa!" shrieked Nakuru as she flew through the window and proceeded to squeeze the life out of aka hug each person in turn.

"That has _got_ to be the most God-awful annoying voice," muttered Syaoran.

"SYAORAN-KUN!"

"I take it back," said Syaoran looking around wildly for a place to hide. The habit had stayed even after the engagement between him and Meiling had been broken.

Meiling flew through the window after Spinel Sun and proceeded to glomp Syaoran, Sakura, Tomoyo, and Eriol.

"You must be Eriol," she commented when she was done.

"Yes. And you must be Meiling," returned Eriol.

Meiling nodded absently. "Where's the stuffed animal?"

Keroberos growled. "I am _not_ a stuffed animal!"

He let out a blast of fire.

"Kero!" shouted Sakura angrily.

A staff of gleaming white wood appeared in Meiling's hand and she flicked it out in front of her. The fire hit a barrier invisible to the ordinary eye and dissipated.

Kero looked amazed and then sheepish.

"I heard that the Li clan found magic in you Meiling. Congratulations!" exclaimed Sakura.

"It was buried so that they couldn't find it until I turned 15 and it erupted in fireworks. Almost burned the mansion down too," added Meiling. "It took Yelan and all of Syaoran's sisters to put it out with their magic."

"Woohoo! Way to go Meiling!" laughed Tomoyo.

"I heard that Kero grew when he regained his true form, but I didn't recognize him," said Meiling. "And you're Yue." She turned to Sakura and Tomoyo and winked. "He's cute."

The faintest shade of pink touched Yue's cheeks.

Sakura smothered a giggle. "Don't embarass him."

"I've never seen him blush before," Tomoyo giggled.

"I'm going to bed," stated Yue coldly and stalked out of the room.

"It's probably time to get to sleep," agreed Syaoran as the others stood.

Sakura stretched languidly. "I'll take you to see Headmaster Albus Dumbledore," she offered.

"Sure," agreed Nakuru for them.

"What were all of you doing in there?" asked Meiling as the group of four left.

Sakura made a graceful motion with her hand and then extended her hand in their direction, fingers spread. The discussion replayed in their minds.

"Screw the spell. I'll just go kick this Draco Malfoy's butt," said Meiling vehemently.

Just then the Devil, aka Malfoy, walked around the corner.

"Back to bed," said Sakura shortly. "And 20 points from Slytherin."

Malfoy sneered. "Who are these three freaks?" he asked glancing at Meiling and the guardians.

"30 points from Slytherin and get your arse back in bed," ordered Meiling.

"Who do you think you are, ordering me around?" said Malfoy contemptuously.

"I'm a professor, an enchantress, and I'm gonna kick your butt."

"Meiling," cautioned Spinel, "I don't think you're allowed to do that."

"Well, what about the ferret thing?" demanded Meiling.

"He wasn't exactly a professor," replied Spinel as Malfoy became alternately red and white before scuttling off toward his House.

"Does _everyone_ know about that?" they heard him mutter.

Sakura sighed and led them toward the stone gargoyle. "Butterfinger," she said and a stair appeared leading up to Dumbledore's office. She raised her hand to knock a split second too late as Nakuru burst through the door.

"Konnichiwa!"

"Nakuru! I thought Master Eriol taught you some manners," rebuked Spinel.

"He tried," answered Nakuru darkly.

Dumbledore chuckled as he surveyed an irritated Sakura, seething Meiling, and bickering guardians.

"They're here," said Sakura looking positively harassed.

"So I see," commented the Headmaster.

"I'm Meiling and this is Nakuru and," she grinned evilly, "Suppi."

"For the last time," exploded Spinel Sun, "my name is SPINEL!"

Meiling deflected his attack as she had Kero's.

Spinel sat down sullenly, his butterfly wings moving agitatedly.

"Welcome," greeted Dumbledore as if nothing had happened. "Syaoran told me that you two will start the martial arts class after dinner next Monday. You'll have two classes tomorrow of 5th years. Slytherins and Hufflepuffs first, and then Ravenclaw and Gryffindor. Tomoyo began the Muggle Studies class today, so you can talk to her if you have any questions. Spinel and Nakuru, your Astronomy classes will be larger than Muggle Studies since Astronomy is required. You will have Gryffindor and Hufflepuff 1st years and then 5th years. Harry Potter is in that class."

Nakuru and Spinel nodded acknowledging their part in the group's assignment of watching, protecting, and training him.

* * *

Having completed their lesson with tree sprites in Care of Magical Creatures, Harry, Ron, and Hermione headed up to the Astronomy classroom.

"I'm just relieved they weren't pixies muttered Ron.

"Yeah. But I think Professor Kinomoto could have easily handled them," responded Harry.

"Did you hear anything they said last night?" questioned Hermione changing the subject.

"Harry shook his head. "They caught me as soon as I got there. And I'm _not_ going to try it again."

"How did they catch you?" asked Ron puzzled. "Did you step on somebody's robe?"

"No, nothing like that. It was almost like they could see me. And I know I was totally covered."

"Covered in what?" Nakuru popped up in front of them and they shrieked, jumping ten feet. "Sugar?" She grinned wickedly at Spinel.

"Don't even think about it. Not when there's a class to teach. Not ever in fact," warned Spinel.

** That was close ** , Nakuru thought to Spinel. 

** They're very inquisitive. That can be admirable. **

** Not when they're so close to realizing things Master Eriol and Sakura don't want them to know,  ** retorted Nakuru.

** They'll barely touch the tip of the iceberg, but that's trouble enough. Albus said that they're clever enough to get books from the restricted section, indeed they've done it before, and if they comprehend the symptoms they can find the cause easily, ** returned Spinel.

Nakuru stood in front of the class and introduced herself.

** You make it sound like sorcery is a disease, Spinel. **


	3. Hell Must Have Frozen, and Do I See Flying Pigs?

8:00 found Sakura and Tomoyo sitting (or laying in Sakura's case) on couches in the Teachers' Lounge, chatting idly with a few other professors including Professor McGonagall. Sakura had closed her eyes, opened her mind, and directed her awareness to the Gryffindor Common Room. Everyone but Tomoyo thought she had fallen asleep.

Harry, Ron, Hermione, and several others had just returned.

At that moment Syaoran and Meiling entered the Lounge.

"How was the first martial arts lesson?" asked Tomoyo as everyone looked up.

"Excuse me," said Syaoran, gritting his teeth and went through one of the many doors leading into extra rooms and slammed it shut. Immediately there was the sound of glass shattering and large thumps as of furniture hitting the wall.

Meiling sighed. "I had just gotten him calmed down, too."

The professors were staring at the door, eyes wide. Professor McGonagall had a hand over her mouth in shock.

"Don't you dare clean it up!" called Sakura. "I know it was you who tried to blow up Eriol's mansion last time you cleaned up after your tantrum!"

The crashes, which had become fewer and quieter, abruptly picked up speed.

"It's best he get rid of all of his frustration or who knows what might happen," explained Tomoyo.

"Does he do this often?" questioned Professor Sprout shakily.

"Only about once or twice a year," replied Sakura as Syaoran emerged looking just as expressionless as ever aside from his slightly disheveled look.

She opened her eyes. "I'll go clean up the mess." She disappeared into the room, shutting the door quietly behind her.

Tomoyo looked at Syaoran in sympathy. "That bad, eh?"

He fumed. "Half of them were tripping over their own feet and the other half tried to cheat with magic."

Meiling smirked. "After making an example of the first one I caught, the others stopped suddenly. I didn't hurt him," she assured the other professors quickly. "Much," she added under her breath so that they couldn't hear her.

The door Sakura had disappeared into had opened. "Come here Syaoran," ordered Sakura meeting him halfway. "I'm missing a piece of a vase and I think it got caught on you."

Her eyes quickly saw the sharp shard entangled in his robe sleeve. The area around his upper arm had been torn.

"Oh!" exclaimed Sakura in concern. "You cut yourself." She carefully grasped the glass, and placed her hand gently over the cut so that it just barely touched. The bleeding stopped and the cut healed.

"Thanks," muttered Syaoran, his cheeks tinted pink. He was exhausted from expending so much emotional and magical energy that he was unable to produce his trademark fire engine red blush.

Sakura looked at him sharply, not as naive as she had been in her cardcaptoring days, and then dismissed her thought, attributing his blush to the large roaring fire in the fireplace.

The other professors hid grins, a bit more able to see the obvious than the two involved. Meiling hovered behind Tomoyo who hovered behind Sakura and Syaoran with her camera mouthing 'kawaii,' barely able to keep from squealing.

Sakura, having changed her star staff into a wand topped with a star long ago, sent the piece of the vase back to its proper place.

She turned to her fellow professors and bowed. "I apologize for any inconvenience and hope I have adequately fixed the damage." She elbowed Syaoran sharply in the ribs.

Syaoran let out a gasp, glad Sakura hadn't put any more power into the jab and wished she had put in less. "I also apologize for losing my temper. We really should retire to our rooms now, though." He looked at Sakura. "Another day of teaching tomorrow."

Sakura scowled and muttered to herself as the four of them left. "What idiot would make school begin so early in the morning? Early bird catches the worm my ass. Early bird wants to catch some more sleep is more like it. The man must have been insane. Or a sadist." Sakura gave a decisive nod. "Yep, definitely a sadist."

As soon as the professors could not hear their voices anymore they broke out laughing. Oh yes, these new professors, no matter that they were still children, were going to make the year very interesting.

"I'll see you in the morning," Sakura told the others. "I want to go to the library. I know Eriol has the obvious books that would link us to Clow or the Cards, but I want to check for the more obscure titles, since I don't feel very tired."

"Don't stay up too late," Syaoran said as they went in opposite directions.

"I won't," replied Sakura, smiling warmly.

Syaoran flushed and quickly walked away.

Tomoyo and Meiling exchanged knowing glances.

As Sakura neared the library door she heard voices.

"They don't have Sorcerous People P-T," Hermione was complaining. "It'll take forever for that person to bring it back and I'll have to wait to finish the whole series."

"If you want to finish the series, why don't you finish it and then read P-T when it comes in," suggested Ron.

"Read a series out of order?!"

"Uh oh," said Harry.

"Read a series _out of order?!_ "

"Now you've done it," murmured Harry.

"Are. You. _Crazy?!_ "

"That's, like, a personal sin to her," added Harry. "Up there with getting expelled."

Hermione stalked off, at loss for words and Harry and Ron followed at a safe distance.

"Good," murmured Sakura. Eriol _had_ done what he said he would. No one would be able to read about Clow Reed and connect Keroberos and Yue back to them.

She entered the library and quickly skimmed through titles, piling books on a table that might have a reference to Clow Reed. Once she was done with one area she would read through the Index, and if it said anything about Clow, she teleported it back to her room.

Finally, unable to keep her eyes open any longer, she made her way back to her room.

Unknown to her, someone had been watching to make sure she got back without falling asleep along the way.

Syaoran.

The next day passed quickly to the Cardcaptor group as they planned how they were going to exorcise Malfoy and gathered any materials they thought they might need.

The castle was silent as Sakura's clock shone midnight in an empty room. The full moon was bright in a velvety sky full of stars.

A figure in a black cloak quickly crossed the grounds of Hogwarts in the direction of the Forbidden Forest.

"I really wish you wouldn't go tonight. I have a bad feeling about this," said a voice suddenly, startling the dark figure. "Severus."

Sakura was sitting on air gazing steadily at the Potions professor worriedly.

"Professor Kinomoto," greeted Snape coldly.

"Call me Sakura."

"Why are you floating?" Snape inquired without changing his tone.

"The ground is wet," replied Sakura matter-of-factly. She stood and walked over to him and touched the Dark Mark through his sleeve. "That should feel better."

Snape stared at her flexing his now pain-free arm.

"I wish you wouldn't go to Voldemort tonight."

"Headmaster Dumbledore wishes for me to spy on him."

"Only at your choice. I have a bad feeling. Tell him I warned you not to go. He'll understand."

Snape raised an eyebrow. "And I suppose you can see the future?"

Sakura shook her head. "Rarely and only in fragments. It's not like seeing the past that is usually more fixed."

Snape sneered. "If you're so adept in seeing the past, present, and future, perhaps you should have taught Divination."

Sakura glared at him, eyes filled with fire. "Do not sneer at me Severus Snape," she hissed. "I - we - have been through more than you can imagine. We have had to grow up too early, too quickly. We may act like 16 year olds, but that is all it is. An act."

She sighed, anger gone as quickly as it had come, and her eyes suddenly looked ancient to Snape, full of hidden pain.

"I don't know why I'm doing this. Maybe it's because you remind me of Syaoran. So cold and unreachable on the outside, until you get to know him. Here." Sakura held out a star charm on a chain. She made a motion and it appeared on his wrist. "It's long enough for you to reach it without taking it off and it's spelled to stay put and be hidden. If you find yourself in trouble, just squeeze the charm and say, 'Card Mistress.'"

Snape's eyes widened in recognition.

"Ah, so you're one of those bookie people who research anything and everything." She grinned impishly. "The opposite of me. I trust you and Albus will keep our secret? I mean, the Card Mistress, half reincarnation of Clow Reed, two members of the Li clan, and daughter of the owner of one of the largest toy companies in the world can't exactly walk around without being swarmed unless they're in disguise."

Snape was shocked at their list of titles.

"I love introducing the group to magic-using people. You get such fun reactions," giggled Sakura.

"You're not exactly what I had pictured for a master of the Clow Cards."

"What were you picturing? Someone older, taller, more serious, emanating power? And they're not Clow Cards anymore, they're Sakura Cards. I had to upgrade them."

"While I'm thinking about it, you should be nicer to Harry. He'll need all the support he can get for what we're preparing him for. And you don't have to worry about him getting a big head. Considering what kind of people he's living with, it probably won't occur. And if it does Eriol will love to add ice to the swelled head."

"What do you mean the kind of people he's living with?" asked Severus suspiciously.

"You don't know?" asked Sakura in surprise. "Well, maybe Albus didn't tell you because he's protected, even if abused."

"Abused?! We'll discuss this later. If I'm late..." he trailed off and then hurried away.

Sakura watched him sadly and then appeared on the roof next to Syaoran.

"I wish he wouldn't go," she whispered.

"How did he take it?" questioned Syaoran.

"Pretty well actually. Nothing too major. Didn't faint or anything."

Syaoran chuckled. "I have a hard time imagining him fainting."

Sakura smiled back at him, the moonlight highlighting her beauty and making Syaoran catch his breath.

Suddenly he felt compelled to tell her. "Sakura," he began hesitantly, "...I love you."

Sakura stopped, surprised and not unhappy. "Really? I...love you too Syaoran," she replied shyly.

He kissed her then and she responded eagerly, their emotions, pent up since the fourth grade, allowed to pour forth in their full intensity.

Unknown to them, two pairs of eyes and one single watched them. Tomoyo sighed, the eye of the camera fixed on the couple. "Isn't it amazing what a truth spell mixed with a loose tongue potion will do?" she asked dreamily.

"What's amazing is that Snape didn't notice the missing ingredients," replied Eriol with a grin.

"That too," agreed Tomoyo. She gave Eriol a quick kiss. "One could get to like the mixture, ne?" she said as she bounded back inside.

Eriol stood still for a moment before allowing his small smile to grow. "You're not the only lucky one, my cute descendant," he whispered before heading back inside as well.

A couple of hours later found Yue basking in the moonlight. Ruby Moon, Spinel Sun, and Kero had retired to their rooms long ago. The guardians weren't needed this time.

"There he is," whispered Meiling to Sakura. They were in charge of retrieving Draco.

She turned to Sakura. "Can I do it _please_ ," she begged.

"Ummm...sure," replied Sakura hesitantly.

Draco felt a sudden sharp pain to his head and as the world faded, another sharp pain to his gut.

"He's gonna feel that in the morning," said Meiling in wicked delight.

"Meiling," said Sakura reproachfully, "he didn't need that second kick in the stomach. He was already going down."

"Just wanted to do a thorough job," replied Meiling innocently.

Sakura let it go and floated Draco behind her using her staff-become-wand with a star topping it, just as Eriol had a sun, Tomoyo a music note, and Syaoran's looked like a miniature version of his sword, minus the sharp edges. Meiling's was the most inconspicuous since it took after her wooden staff. Unfortunately, the guardians weren't compatible with wands or they could have had them use their false forms and hidden Kero and Spinel, therefore avoiding having to hide all references to Clow, and in turn, Keroberos and Yue.

Luckily, they didn't pass anyone as they made their way outside onto a hill where the others were waiting.

"Right," said Eriol efficiently. "Let's get started."

Yue watched idly from atop the roof as they began.

The five arranged themselves in a circle with Draco in the middle.

Suddenly Draco stirred and moaned, letting out a string of curse words as he tried to gaze blearily at the people around him.

"I didn't know that was possible commented Eriol as Meiling knocked him out again, none too gently.

They changed their wands back into their true forms and then Sakura left her spot first. She walked backwards in a circle around them holding her staff steadily, the star pointed at the ground. Pink light streamed out of the staff and settled into the ground. As she reached her spot in the circle Eriol began his backwards walk, and then Syaoran.

None could get into or out of the circle until they broke it.

Tomoyo floated the sage along the edges of the circle and Meiling made it burn. The smoke floated over the group, purifying them and preparing them to break a spell that gained power the longer it was with its victim.

Sakura floated agrimony and clove over Draco and burned half of them, letting the rest fall onto his body.

"Now," began Eriol softly, "point your staves at the boy and chant 'break and dissolve.'"

Soon soft chanting voices filled the air, holding a steady beat. Light passed like lightning between each staff and sword as the tension built. Sakura soon had beads of perspiration on her brow, as did most of her companions.

Suddenly something seemed to shatter soundlessly and Draco's aura flared brightly, free for the first time in his life.

Tomoyo teleported him back to his bed after Sakura, Eriol, and Syaoran broke the circle by pointing their individual staff (or sword) at the glowing circle and sucking it back into the staff, no energy wasted. 

Then they trooped wearily and silently to their rooms and almost instantly fell asleep.

Sakura slept fitfully, dreams full of half formed nightmares. Finally, unable to stand it any longer, she headed towards the Teachers' Lounge in hopes of finding someone to talk to.

At 5:00 in the morning Professor McGonagall and Madam Hooch were the only ones up and had decided to relax by the fire for a bit.

They looked up as Sakura entered.

"Oh, hello dear, you're up early," greeted Madam Hooch.

"Good morning. Have a seat," added Professor McGonagall.

"Good morning," replied Sakura with a polite bow and collapsed on the offered seat.

"Trouble sleeping?" questioned Madam Hooch sympathetically.

"Yes," moaned Sakura, voice a bit muffled since she had her face in her hands.

"What was the troub-."

"Severus!" gasped Sakura feeling the tug of the charm and promptly disappeared.

Minerva and Hannah were staring at each other in disbelief, knowing full well that no one could Apparate or Disapparate from Hogwarts when Syaoran burst in, sword in hand.

His hair stuck up at wild angles as if he had just gotten out of bed. Eriol and Tomoyo entered the room a few steps behind him.

"What happened?" demanded Syaoran. "Where's Sakura?"

Minerva looked at Syaoran somewhat reproachfully. "We were talking when all of a sudden she said, 'Severus' and disappeared.

"Kuso!" swore Syaoran. "Why didn't you stop her?!"

"Syaoran!" commanded Eriol, totally serious.

Syaoran swung to face him and unthinkingly brought around his sword too.

Eriol parried it with his staff. "What could they have done? Think logically, Syaoran. _What could they have done?_ "

Tomoyo glared at him. "We're worried about Sakura too. But we have got to think about this. She's kept us from following, we need to help her from here."

Syaoran still had a wild look in his eyes when Meiling burst into the room.

"Syaoran Li put that sword away or, so help me, I'll find a way to get engaged with you again!"

_ That  _ brought Syaoran to his senses and he sheathed his sword.

"What is going on here?!" exclaimed Minerva as she stood.

Madam Hooch was watching them with a mixture of amusement and worry visible on her face.

Eriol had opened his mouth to explain when both sets of guardians rushed into the room.

"Where is she?" hissed Yue furiously.

"Sakura went to rescue Professor Snape," snapped Syaoran.

"After last night? And they didn't stop her?" demanded Yue.

"What could they have done Yue? Who here can stand up to your Mistress?" asked Tomoyo angrily.

"It's too crowded in here. Ruby Moon choose, false form or get rid of the wings. Spinel, Kero, Yue, false forms. I want a warning in case you decide to do something foolish," commanded Eriol in a tone that left no room to argue.

Of course Yue opened his mouth to argue when Yukito decided to take over. Sakura had made it so that he, like Yue, could see events taking place through the other form's eyes. Now that he was aware, Yukito could change back into himself at any time. They could also communicate with each other, which in this case, was not the best thing.

"Oooo, Yue! What a potty mouth!" exclaimed Yukito.

Everyone stared at him.

Yukito flushed. "Sorry. My four year old self is resurfacing." Then he frowned. "Wait a minute. I was born at 16, so I was never four. Or was I four at 20?"

Eriol massaged his temples. "Thinking about that will only give you a headache."

"What is going on here?" demanded Hannah Hooch. "What is wrong with Severus?"

Tomoyo turned to the two professors, caught up in the disaster. "Voldemort has probably discovered Severus spying for Dumbledore. Sakura went to save him," she answered softly.

Hannah gasped and Minerva sat down hard. "Bring her back, bring them both back. He'll kill them," she said urgently.

"No," growled Syaoran. "The worst he could do is to drain her magic before she gets Snape away. And she blocked herself so we can't go after her."

Hannah crossed her arms and glared. "She's just a child still. She teaches students _older_ than she is."

"But she is also the Mistress of the Cards," replied Eriol.

They fell silent trying to assimilate this new information.

"It'll take her time to change the coordinates," Eriol though out loud, "and recharge. She has to be using Shield, which doesn't take much power, so even though she's using some energy, she's gaining more. I suppose we'll just have to wait."

Syaoran turned this over in his head. Something was wrong, but what was it?

He leaped up. " _Shit!_ Oh bloody _hell!_ "

Professor McGonagall looked at him, vaguely disapproving. Her mind wasn't totally on what was happening. She was suddenly making connections to the group that she had dismissed before.

He turned to Eriol, eyes wide. "She won't give away her identity. She'll use a rune spell, or worse, a wizard shield, and that'll use more energy than she can build up."

Eriol became suddenly efficient, refusing to panic. "I'm going to establish a connection. We can't follow her so we'll lend our power. Meiling, Syaoran, and Tomoyo get ready. I only have enough power to begin this spell."

He turned to the guardians. "I'm going to tie you four into the spell to stabilize it." Eriol's staff appeared in his hand and he began chanting. Then he stopped and thrust the staff downward. It was stopped by a force field several inches off of the floor. Eriol bore down on it, keeping it in place as sweat trickled down his brow.

Slowly a blurry picture formed and Eriol relaxed, leaning on his staff and panting.

"Now."

The three sent what power they could spare into the portal.

"Crucio!"

All was pain. No thought, no talk, no hearing. Only pain that wracked his whole body.

He was clenching something in his right hand. Five points bit into his palm.

Desperately he tried to relax his hand. What was it? Something... He couldn't think. Pain. That's all there was. No one would rescue him.

Rescue...Who...? She...Someone.

Star. It was a star.

He fought to think through the agony. Stars and cards. Star Cards? Not quite.

It was on the tip of his tongue. The one thing that would save him.

"Card...Mis...tress."

It was so quiet he was sure no one could hear him.

Suddenly someone appeared between him and his tormentor and doubled over in pain.

Severus relaxed as she stood and flung the spell onto one of Voldemort's followers. He lay there, his body bruised, bleeding, and broken.

A barrage of spell was sent at her. They bounced off an invisible shield up in a circle around both Sakura and Severus.

He could hear her muttering.

"Let's see...94°...double that then find the square root. Eight to the fifth power times negative 3.4. Add those two together...Right, got the coordinates. God, I hate math." Sakura had been forced to become very familiar with mathematical concepts once she had time to learn how to use sorcery other than the Cards. Sorcery contained more math than any other form of magic and Sakura hated it. True, in school she passed with flying colors and she loved using her magic, and using it quickly, but those were the good things.

"Allow for multiple curse, hex, and killing intention interventions."

She was getting tired now. He could see her trembling every time a spell hit the shield. Severus pushed himself painfully into a sitting position as her muttering came quickly, almost stumbling over words in her haste. He reached for his wand to help her as she cried out.

"No!" she shrieked. Sakura had finally gotten the numbers in line when she felt the energy she needed drain away into the shield. "It's too soon," she whispered. _I can't give my identity away_ now.

Her eyes darted quickly to a point between her and Severus. A small tendril of magic appeared and threaded swiftly in her direction.

A smile of relief crossed her face as it entered her chest.

_ Tomoyo _ , she decided, _and Syaoran and Meiling._ Sakura kept still, preserving what energy she could as she waited.

The spells striking the shield were fewer and the shouts she had blocked out was reduced to enraged muttering.

Voldemort was livid. Those two should have been screaming in pain or dead by now.

"Now," murmured Sakura.

The features around them shifted and blurred, much different from Apparating and Disapparating. Severus felt a bit nauseated.

They appeared in the Teachers' Lounge.

"Severus!" Minerva cried out, appalled at his beaten state.

Sakura supported him, staggering under his weight as he passed out. "You might...want...to levitate...him," gasped Sakura.

"Oh yes, of course," replied Minerva sheepishly. "Wingardium leviosa," she said.

Sakura sighed as her knees buckled underneath her and she fell into Syaoran's arms. She looked up at him, eyes glazed from fever. "I think I'm sick," she said simply before passing out. Almost immediately she began thrashing about, almost causing Syaoran to drop her.

"Okaasan! OKAASAN!" she sobbed.

"Is she alright?" asked Madam Hooch anxiously, leaning in to examine her.

"She doesn't take well to magic drains. We should get them both to the Hospital Wing," replied Eriol.

Hannah nodded. "You're right." She walked over to the fireplace and pulled one of the pictures on the mantle forward. The fireplace swung open to reveal a brightly lit tunnel.

"Well prepared I see," muttered Kero, hiding his concern as the large group entered. The door swung shut behind them.

"Harry, where are you going?" demanded Ron.

Harry looked up as he grabbed his invisibility cloak. "Don't you think it's a bit strange that both Professor Kinomoto and Snape weren't teaching today and Professors Hiiragizawa and Li looked half asleep?"

Hermione looked thoughtful. "Professor Li, the one who teaches Muggle Studies, and Professor Daidouji looked as if they hadn't gotten any sleep, also."

"And have you noticed how strange Malfoy has been acting today. He's been... _nice._ "

Hermione stared at him.

"You know, he said sorry to me when he bumped into me in the halls," said Harry thoughtfully. "I thought I was imagining things."

"That settles things. Let's check out the Hospital Wing to see if Kinomoto and Snape are sick," said Hermione firmly.

Harry was about to protest their coming, but, seeing the looks on their faces, knew it would do no good.

He sighed and motioned for them to hurry under the cloak. The three of them, stumbling a bit, headed down to the Hospital Wing.

They barely made it past Madame Pomfrey and almost gave away that they were there when saw Snape.

Madam Pomfrey had already treated him, but the pile of blood soaked sheets told how badly he had been hurt.

On the bed behind them, next to a sleeping Snape, lay Professor Kinomoto. She was asleep as well, but fitfully. She tossed and turned, moaning at intervals.

Hermione reached out a tentative hand and snatched it back.

"She's burning up - literally," she whispered.

"It happens...whenever I'm drained. I...should be teaching in...a couple of...days," murmured Sakura in a moment of lucidity.

They jumped. "Does this cloak not work on anyone but witches and wizards?" demanded Harry.

Sakura chuckled. "I don't have...the magic to light...a candle with...right now. The cloak is not...sound-proof."

Harry flushed, glad that no one could see him.

"Is Snape - Professor Snape - alright? What happened?" asked Harry worriedly.

"He's fine. I would like...you to be...friendly to Draco. He's been different lately as...I'm sure you know. He needs...friends."

Harry nodded distractedly, and none of the three noticed that she had avoided the second question.

Sakura dropped off into sleep and the three left quietly.

At that moment Severus awoke and sat up, wincing at his headache. It felt like someone was using a jackhammer to crack it open.

"Otousan. Where's okaasan?" murmured Sakura in her sleep. "What's dead?'

Severus sucked in his breath. He realized that she was hallucinating and guessed that her mother had died when she was young.

He kneeled by her bedside and held her hand, awkwardly patting her head. He owed her his life. But if anyone saw him like this he'd kill whoever it was.

Sakura screamed. "A ghost!"

Severus gave a wry smile. He didn't know she was afraid of ghosts. She had hidden it well. He straightened suddenly, realizing that Poppy would arrive soon. But she didn't come and he realized that this someone must have convinced her to get some rest once her patients had stabilized.

Sakura blinked owlishly at him. "Oh hello," she said, then scowled. "You're not well yet. Get back into bed."

"It's a bit hard to sleep with someone screaming about ghosts," replied Severus dryly, but complied.

Sakura blushed. "It's my brother's fault. He scared me when I was little by telling me about the transparent people he kept seeing," she mumbled.

He saw her grin suddenly and felt uneasy.

"You're losing your touch, you know. Harry, Hermione, and Ron came by to see what happened. They seemed quite worried about you." Sakura smirked.

"Liar," replied Severus.

"Am I?" she questioned sleepily.

Severus was silent and soon both were asleep once more.

"God dammit, Ron, we're going to be late to Potions! Snape'll kill us!" snarled Harry.

"Well it's not my fault," snapped Ron as they raced to the dungeon. "That stair hardly ever moves. I can't believe it extended 5 stories.

They screeched to a halt outside of the door and slammed it open.

Snape looked up coldly and waited for the inevitable excuse.

"Sorry we're late, Professor but the staircase-" said Harry hastily.

"It's not our fault we're late, the staircase moved us-" began Ron at the same time.

"One excuse at a time Potter, Weasley," said Snape.

"The staircase we were using took us up to the 8th floor and we had to take the long way around," explained Harry.

Snape sighed and, remembering what Sakura had told him, merely said, "I trust it won't happen again," before turning back to the class. He meant to have Sakura tell him about Harry's home life before he forgot. Abuse...

Ron and Harry froze, wondering if they had misheard and the student's mouths had dropped open in astonishment.

"Um...Professor?" began Harry hesitantly.

"Do you not understand that when in class you are to be seated? Do you want me to take points from Gryffindor?" asked Snape sardonically.

Numbly Harry took an open seat, not noticing it was next to Malfoy. He could have sworn he saw a glint of amusement in Snape's eyes. Had hell frozen over? He looked out one of the windows, fully expecting to see flying pigs. Nothing.

He tensed when he saw who he was sitting next to. "Hello Malfoy," he greeted coldly.

Draco seemed to shrink inside of himself and ducked his head. "Hello," he murmured.

Suddenly he remembered what Professor Kinomoto had told him two days ago in the Hospital Wing. "Are you okay?" he whispered, glancing surreptitiously at the lecturing Snape."

"I'm fine," said Malfoy in surprise.

Harry took a deep breath. Might as well go for it.

"Would you like to be friends? I see that you haven't been hanging out with many Slytherins lately," he whispered quickly.

Draco looked at him hopefully and Harry knew he had done something right.

"Yes," he replied in what Harry perceived as relief.

Snape raised an eyebrow in their direction. "Is there something you two would like to share with the class Draco, Harry?"

They shook their heads and avoided making eye contact.

Then Harry glanced up in surprise. He had used his first name!

Snape glared at him, cold as ever, but Harry could have sworn he saw his mouth twitch at the corners.

Harry grinned to himself. Whatever was happening, he hoped it would last.

Halloween passed quickly with nothing out of the ordinary. Nakuru and various other members of the gang still liked to pop up in beside Harry unannounced and startle Harry and his friends, which now included Draco who was as much a friend now as he had been an enemy before.

Harry, Draco, Hermione, and Ron had progressed from jumping 10 feet in the air to 6 feet whenever one of the gang popped up. 


	4. Someone's in a Santa Suit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Having trouble with wonky formatting since this story is so old. I'm ready to start pulling my hair out. Sorry for crappy formatting.

Eriol blinked and fumbled for his glasses, wondering for a moment where he was. Then he remembered. The group, minus Nakuru and Spinel who were checking on his mansion, had decided to have sleepover Christmas Eve. They had settled in Sakura's in front of the fireplace on couches or the floor, silently agreeing that the bed would not be used.  
It occurred to him to wonder why he was up at...4:03 AM. He attempted to snap his fingers and succeeded after a few tries. He had never been in very good shape with very little sleep.  
The lights flickered on, dimly enough that it would wake no one. That's when Eriol saw the blur of orange bouncing off of the walls. It was amazing that Kero hadn't broken anything yet.  
CRASH.  
No, wait. Scratch that. He winced as Kero collided with the Christmas tree and glass ornaments rained down.  
Forgetting himself, Kero began chanting, "Presents, presents, presents!" in a loud voice.  
The others began to stir.  
Sakura, not fully awake, stuffed a pillow over her head. "What time is it?" she growled.  
"4:00 in the morning," replied Eriol helpfully.  
Sakura snarled. Eriol blinked at how much it sounded like a wild animal. But then, she had never been a morning person.  
"Tell him to shut the bloody hell up or I'll make him." Her voice, although muffled, was perfectly understandable and Kero immediately stopped.  
Everyone quickly dropped off to sleep and the event faded into a dim memory.  
Thus began their first Christmas at Hogwarts.  
"Is it time to open presents yet?" whined Kero with barely suppressed impatience.  
They had just finished a small breakfast knowing that there would be a large feast at the Teachers' Christmas Party that evening. Harry had gone to Ron's this year for Christmas, so Sakura decided to give him the break off.  
She had begun training him through his dreams, although he did not know it was her. He had almost mastered the meditation lesson she had begun him with and Sakura hoped he wouldn't forget it over the vacation.  
Sakura sighed, pretending to think this over and glanced at the others who had just finished eating. She grinned. "Of course."  
Kero cheered and raced for the tree. They had cleaned up the shards of glass and repaired them earlier that morning.  
Soon the floor was covered in wrapping paper and ribbon and a pile of presents had accumulated next to each person. Kero was at the moment working his way through the presents of food he got, which was about three quarters of the pile. The rest was a handbag with cleverly disguised air holes from Eriol and costumes to match Sakura's and Syaoran's new costumes by, you guessed it, Tomoyo.  
Sakura sweatdropped. "Um...Tomoyo-chan, when are we going to use all of these?" she asked holding the top set up against herself.  
"I'm sure we'll find a use," replied Tomoyo dreamily.  
Everyone glanced up as an owl swooped in and landed in between a crystal charged with extra energy and shaped into a cherry blossom pendant from Kero and Yue, and a carved stone that would automatically sharpen any dagger, knife, or sword from Meiling. Sakura had long ago taken lessons from Syaoran on how to use a sword and martial arts. She had become quite good and was evenly matched with both Li's.  
Sakura took the package from the owl and thanked him as he flew away.  
She opened the letter and skimmed it. "It's from otousan and oniichan!" she exclaimed excitedly.  
Inside that package was a pouch of Galleons and a pair of barrettes that instantly changed color depending on her mood.  
She lifted out a collar that had a note attached to it.  
Sakura, can you have Eriol or someone attach this to Nakuru? It doesn't matter where and she won't feel a thing. It'll disappear once it's put on. Merry Christmas kaijuu.  
\- Touya

Eriol frowned. "I'm not sure I trust-"  
He was interrupted when Nakuru and Spinel arrived. "We're baaaa-aaaack," said Nakuru. "OOOOOHHHHH! YOU'RE OPENING PRESENTS!"  
As she started for the tree Syaoran snuck behind her and deftly attached the collar to her neck. She didn't even feel him do it.  
"What?" demanded Syaoran as Eriol glared at him. "I was curious. Nothing happened, anyway."  
Nakuru scrambled for her presents, oblivious, as usual, to what had happened.  
They quickly dismissed it when Sakura let out an, "Oooooo." She held up a belt from Eriol that had a square pocket attached on opposite sides.  
"It's for your Sakura Cards," explained Eriol. "One side is for the Cards ruled by Yue, and the other is for the Cards ruled by Keroberos. If you know which Card you want, just pick up the first one and that'll be it."  
"Wow, it's perfect," said Sakura giving him a hug.  
Syaoran glared, feeling a tad...okay more than a tad, jealous.  
Eriol grinned pleasantly at him and sauntered over. "I don't think Sakura's opened a present from you yet."  
"I was just about to give it to her," mumbled Syaoran as he reached into his pocket as Tomoyo exclaimed over the embroidered camera bag Sakura had given her.  
"Er...umm...S-sakura," stuttered Syaoran, a blush spreading across his face, "this is for you."  
Sakura smiled at him. "Thank you Syaoran." She grabbed an oblong box from under the Christmas tree. "This is for you too," she said shyly.  
He tore away the paper and opened the box. What was in there took his breath away.  
"Did I know you could embroider that well?" he asked absentmindedly.  
Inside was a sheath for his sword with rich, colorful designs of cherry blossoms and peonies, a moon and a sun, as well as the elements, all along its length. A moonstone was placed near the top on both sides.  
"It's funny how well I can embroider considering how horribly I sew," laughed Sakura as she opened up Syaoran's gift to her.  
She gasped and almost went into a coughing fit. Snuggled in a piece of fabric was a silver ring designed into a wolf that had curled up, snout to tail. Its eyes were tiny emeralds and its nose was a small black opal.  
Tomoyo whistled and Meiling clapped.  
"Aren't you two a bit young to be getting married?" That was Eriol, of course.  
They blushed fiercely.  
"That's not an engagement ring, that's a promise ring," said Syaoran heatedly.  
Eriol raised an eyebrow suggestively.  
"Oh, shut up Hiiragizawa," muttered Syaoran.  
"But I'm not saying anything." He frowned. "Or I wasn't, anyway."  
"Perhaps I should have gotten you Band-Aids instead of that wand cleaning kit," threatened Syaoran.  
Eriol was interrupted by Tomoyo who wisely chose that time to throw her arms around him and thank him for the intricately carved jewelry box that enlarged its inside to hold whatever she needed it to, while the outside stayed about the length of her hand.  
"It also has a secret compartment if you touch the center of the rose carving," murmured Eriol, losing the fight against the blush.  
Syaoran smirked and opened his mouth to say something. Eriol hastily beat him.  
"And I thank you for the focus stone. It will really help me concentrate my energy on," he gave Syaoran a warning look, "important things."  
They soon finished the presents and were cleaning up when the door opened.  
"Special delivery for Kinomoto Sakura," said an amused voice.  
Sakura leaped up with a shriek. "Otousan!" She hugged him tightly.  
The door opened fully.  
"TOUYA-KUN!" screeched Nakuru, racing at him.  
Touya looked at her in thinly veiled panic and prayed that Sakura had followed his directions. Unfortunately he had forgotten to think up a command word and said the first thing that came to mind.  
"Sit, Sit, SIT!"  
Nakuru's face hit the floor at his feet painfully. It took her a while to get back to her feet and she pouted.  
The silence was interrupted by Syaoran.  
"So that's what the collar was for," said Syaoran with a chuckle.  
Harry sighed contentedly as he finished his last bite of chicken and surveyed the room. Ron was still stuffing his face and Mrs. Weasley had begun to levitate the dishes over to the sink.  
"Are you done, dear?" she asked him.  
Harry nodded. "Thank you, Mrs. Weasley."  
Ron finished shoveled the last bit of food into his mouth and jumped up.  
"Bill and Charley should be here soon," he informed Harry looking hopefully in the direction of the Christmas tree. "Then we can open our presents."  
"Fred! George! Don't you dare touch those presents until your brothers are here!" shouted Mrs. Weasley suddenly.  
Fred and George emerged from the living room, looking annoyed. "I swear, Mum can see through walls," muttered Fred. Or maybe it was George.  
At that moment, with a loud roaring, Bill emerged from the fireplace.  
Ginny clattered downstairs and Mr. Weasley raced up from the basement.  
"Can we-" they began at the same time. Their faces fell.  
"Oh. Hi Bill," said Ginny in disappointment.  
"Nice to see you guys too," remarked Bill dryly.  
"It's nothing against you," explained Mr. Weasley quickly, "but until Charlie gets here we have to wait before opening our presents. We were hoping you two had come together."  
"No, but he said he would be right-"  
The fire roared behind him and Charlie appeared.  
"-behind me," finished Bill.  
Ginny, Fred, George, Ron, Mr. Weasley, and Harry cheered before rushing for the tree.  
Charlie stared after them, bemused. "I did take a shower this morning," he commented.  
"Don't take it personally, dear," said Mrs. Weasley. "They're all boys and Ginny's still young."  
Charlie and Bill looked at their mother. "We're boys too, you know," said Bill cautiously.  
Mrs. Weasley patted his head and led the two into the living room. "You two are different."  
Paper and bows were quickly strewn across the floor as the opening of presents commenced.  
Harry chewed absently on one of the new High Flying Schmoks candies Ron had given him as he flipped through the book Myths and Realities: What is the Truth? from Hermione. This one actually looked interesting and was not so thick as to be unappealing.  
"Thank you, Hermione," praised Ron as he opened a box containing a new cauldron. Neville had melted his last one and, changed as Snape may be, he knew he was not going to let him get away with a blob of metal in place of a cauldron.  
Harry was just about finished opening his presents when an owl swooped in, dropping something in his lap, and then Ron's before flying off.  
It was a small box from Draco. Harry still felt a little surprised that Draco was still kind. After that first day, Draco had been a little more like his old self. Not rude, but with more backbone. Draco had confessed to him that he had been unused to having a conscience and it took him a day before he could get rid of the wimpy attitude.  
Harry opened the box and inside was a hat. Wondering what it was, he looked around for a note and found one.  
Harry,  
This hat is used to block nightmares. Wear it when you sleep. Happy Christmas!  
-Draco  
It reminded Harry of the strange dreams he had been having with the girl's voice. It had stopped once school had gotten off, but Harry still practiced the lesson it had been teaching him. Meditation.  
Now that he remembered, he wanted to ask Ron about it. Maybe it was a condition some wizards got or something.  
He sidled over to where Ron sat. "Hey Ron, I've been." His throat worked, but no sound came out.  
Ron looked at him quizzically. "You've been what?"  
Harry tried again, but no matter what he did, he couldn't tell him anything.  
He sighed and shook his head. "Never mind."  
There was a spell on him. But was it good...or bad?  
The group was happily chatting with their fellow professors as they piled food onto their plates. Only Nakuru seemed less than happy and that was because she couldn't glomp Touya.  
She had tried to be sneaky about it and almost succeeded when Touya realized what she was doing and panicked.  
"Sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit, sit!"  
Needless to say, she was going to be feeling that for a long time to come.  
Sakura was looking around the room for Severus when she realized he wasn't there.  
"I'll be right back," she told Tomoyo and headed down to his room.  
She stopped in front of the door and knocked loudly.  
"Go away," came the oh-so-polite reply.  
Sakura, of course, barged right in and screeched to a halt. She choked and pounded her chest as she coughed.  
Severus glared at her and crossed his arms. The effect was ruined by the red hat, Santa suit, and pillow tucked against his stomach. Or she assumed it was a pillow.  
Sakura recovered and burst into a fit of giggling. "Why are you (giggle) wearing those (snort) clothes? (guffaw) I know it's (hysterical laughter) the season for (wild burst of laughter) it, but it's not (chuckle) you're style."  
"I refused Albus's invitation," he replied coldly.  
"Well, I came to fetch you for the party. You can show off your new clothes there." Sakura barely managed to get that out before shrieking with laughter.  
"Over my dead body."  
Sakura wiped tears of laughter from her eyes. "Tell you what. If you come to the party I'll get rid of that suit for you."  
Snape sighed. "I guess I don't have much choice."  
"Glad to be of service," said Sakura cheerfully. "After all, you don't want to miss what we got Dumbledore."  
Snape sighed again when his regular black robes appeared and the Santa suit disappeared.  
They were halfway back to the Great Hall before Severus gave in to his curiosity. "Alright, what did you and your little group give Albus?"  
Sakura looked up at him, eyes sparkling mischievously.  
"Socks. Fluffy, pink, frilly ones. After all, one can't have too many socks."


	5. A Few Problems to Begin the New Year

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I apologize, but it looks like the rest of the story is going to be crappily formatted unless I figure out how to fix it later. At least this will probably be the only story to have that problem, as it is the oldest.

"...3...2...1...Happy New Year!"  
The cardcaptor group clinked glasses in a toast and chugged apple cider. They had decided to have their own celebration for the New Year and once again congregated in Sakura's room.  
"Happy New Year, Sakura," said Syaoran softly, giving her a kiss.  
"You too," replied Sakura breathlessly.  
"Get away from Sakura, gaki!" roared Keroberos as he pounced.  
"Kero! Get off Syaoran!" yelled Sakura appalled as she saw him knocked flat.  
"Get up stuffed animal," gasped Syaoran.  
Kero's response was to sit on his gut.  
Syaoran grunted and struggled to toss the golden lion off of him.  
"Keroberos." Yue's cold voice cut through the noise. "I would like a word with you." The moon guardian stepped out of the window expecting the sun guardian to follow.  
Kero sighed. "I'll finish you later, gaki," he muttered before flying out the window. He stopped in before Yue who had been waiting at the edge of the Forbidden Forest. "What is it, Yue?"  
"Why do you attack Mistress' chosen? You want her happiness as much as I do."  
"Yue, Yue, Yue," said Keroberos shaking his head. "We've been like this since we met. I have to keep up the appearance, ne?"  
Yue sweatdropped and rolled his eyes. "You always were the immature one," he murmured.  
"You always were too stiff for your own good," returned Kero before he headed back to the party.  
Yue followed after a moment. He raised his eyebrows at the scene before him.  
Eriol was weaving back and forth as he walked toward a lamp.  
"For the love of God, Eriol" snapped Sakura, "how do you get drunk from apple cider?!"  
"Nonshenshe, Tomoyo," Eriol told the lamp. "I'm as sh...shober a-as, as," he gave a squeaky hiccup, "thish camel rightch here." He patted the desk.  
Syaoran grabbed Eriol's drink and sniffed it. "That isn't apple cider," he said, wrinkling his nose.  
Nakuru and Spinel sighed.  
"Oh dear," said Tomoyo. "Not again. You may be several centuries old, Eriol, but you still have a 16-year-old body."  
"And a 6-year-old mind," chimed in Syaoran.  
"What are you talking about?" asked Meiling in confusion.  
"Alcohol doesn't mix with magic," answered Sakura giving her boyfriend a warning glance.  
"Eriol's?"  
"Anyone's. It's just Eriol's in particular," Nakuru answered for her since Sakura was a bit busy with Syaoran at the moment.  
"So that's what happened!" exclaimed Meiling. "I had just tried some wine for a party we were having at Aunt Yelan's mansion when I set it on fire. To think, all I had to do was sneak a sip of wine or something and my magic would have surfaced just like that." She snapped her fingers.  
"Ne Tomoyo," interrupted Syaoran as he and Sakura came up for air. "I almost forgot. We saw the moonlight flash off the lens of your camera that one time on the roof and I took the liberty of destroying the tape."  
"NANIIIIIII?!" shrieked Tomoyo, sounding much like Kero had when Sakura had first told him that all of the Clow Cards had blown away.  
"Don't lie Syaoran," admonished Sakura.  
Tomoyo sighed in relief.  
"We completely obliterated it into thousands of tiny, tiny pieces," concluded Sakura cheerfully.  
Tomoyo paled. "You didn't," she gasped.  
"How did she know?" asked Syaoran looking at Sakura.  
Sakura shrugged. "She's very perceptive."  
"Nicely done, by the way."  
"Really? I thought I was a little slow coming in."  
"No, no. You got her to feel the full impact of what we'd done."  
"What we said we'd done."  
"Quite right."  
"That was a good start you had, by the way."  
"Why, thank you."  
Tomoyo quickly went from white to red. "You two are as bad as Yamazaki and Eriol."  
"Speaking of which," cut in Yue quickly, "he's disappeared.  
Meiling blinked. "Yamazaki?"  
"No, Eriol," said Yue with a scowl.  
"Damn," muttered Sakura. "Okay, the alcohol must have reached his center of magic. We can't trace him when he's in that state, so we'll have to use the mundane way."  
"Hide-and-seek?" inquired Meiling.  
"No scrying."  
"That's the mundane way?" asked Meiling doubtfully.  
"You'll get used to it," said Tomoyo with a smile. "Things have been a bit different since you went home."  
"You think?" she said sarcastically.  
"Okay," said Sakura staring at the fire. "Show me what I wish to see: Eriol Hiiragizawa."  
Slowly a picture took shape in the flames. "Stone walls, large room. Kuso, why does he have to be floating? I can't see anything else. A table?" Sakura negligently waved a hand and the picture disappeared.  
"It has to be either the Great Hall or the dungeon. Those are the two rooms large enough to be the space I felt in the image."  
Tomoyo quickly sent the guardians down to search the dungeons while everyone else raced to the Great Hall.  
Sakura smirked as she drew her staff. "There he is. Ne, Eriol!"  
"Sakura! Behind you!" screamed Meiling.  
Sakura spun around and barely managed to flip over the flying fork. She landed with her wand ready as the utensils on the tables began to glow.  
"Imagine," she said a bit hysterically, "the looks on otousan's and oniichan's faces when Eriol is forced to tell them that he killed me with a fork. Or even worse, a spoon."  
"Daijoubu desu ka?" asked Tomoyo doubtfully.  
"Ask me later."  
She reached down to her belt and grabbed a Sakura Card.  
"Sword!"  
Sakura parried the horde of spoons, knives, and forks that shot her way.  
"Why doesn't she stop them with magic?" wondered Meiling.  
"I think she doesn't want to destroy them. They can repair themselves if it's just scratches or dents, but once their blobs of metal..." Syaoran trailed off and shrugged.  
"But why doesn't she freeze them or something?" persisted Meiling.  
"To tell you the truth, I think she's having fun."  
They watched as Sakura swung the blade like lightening, yelling wildly at intervals.  
"Oh," said Meiling quietly.  
"Ne, could you get rid of the growing teddy bears up there?" asked Sakura waving vaguely as she vaulted over a particularly nasty serving spoon.  
The three looked up and noticed a bunch of bears bouncing on their heads on the ceiling getting larger and larger.  
"What is his obsession with bears?" demanded Tomoyo as she began shielding Eriol's magic from Eriol.  
"Didn't he do this before at Yukito's house?" questioned Syaoran as he shot fire at the bears.  
"Yeah," confirmed Tomoyo. "Done. Oops," she added as Eriol crashed onto the Hufflepuff table.  
"The ducksh are pecking my noshe off, Mommy. I like my noshe," Eriol moaned before passing out.  
They sweadropped.  
"Everything's an adventure with you, isn't it?" commented a cold voice, struggling to hide his amusement.  
"Oh hello Severus," Sakura said greeting the figure in the doorway cheerfully. "Come to join the fun?"  
Giving the butter knife he had frozen a cursory look he said, "What I can't understand is why you didn't shield yourself."  
"Simple. Although nothing can get in to harm me, I can't do anything outside of the shield either. I'd have to take it down at some point since Eriol can be very persistent, drunk or not. By then I'd have knives forks, and spoons clustered around the perimeter of the shield just waiting to get at me."  
"Ah. What did you do to him?"  
Syaoran grinned. "Tomoyo blocked his magic so that he couldn't use it. Since he was using it to float, he fell once she set up the shield."  
Meiling frowned. "We sent the guardians to the dungeon to search for Eriol. Have you seen them?"  
"They were there for a moment. From what I gathered they left to find you. I think they were interrupted along the way, though. I heard Akizuki yell something along the lines of, 'Sugar,' and then I think they all began chasing after the black one, Spinel," replied Severus.  
"Great," moaned Tomoyo. "Now Suppi's drunk too."


	6. Home Again, Home Again, Jiggety Jig

Harry sighed as he walked past the Great Hall. They had just arrived back and it felt good to be home. The Dursley's were to home as a mountain was to a bump in a carpet. A very small bump.  
“Earth to Harry,” said Ron, waving his hand in front of Harry's face.  
“Sorry,” muttered Harry embarrassed as Hermione joined them, threading her way through the crowd of returning students.  
“Hey Harry, Ron. Have you seen-”  
“HELlo!” greeted a loud voice in their ears.  
They jumped and Hermione muffled a shriek. It was Professor Hiiragizawa.  
“Oh excuse me,” said Eriol, spotting Tomoyo.  
“He's gonna kill us,” moaned Ron, clutching his chest.  
“What are they doing?” questioned Hermione, trying to calm her racing heart.  
“Whatever it is, it's drawing a crowd,” panted Harry. Fluffy was nothing compared to those new professors.  
The three crept closer in order to hear better.  
“Pleeeeaaaaasssssseeee Tomoyo,” begged Eriol. “I promise to be good. Look at me! I'm kneeling! I promise, no more underage drinking. Just take the shield off of my magic. Please.”  
Ron gave a low whistle. “I didn't know there was anyone alive who could shield a person's magic from him without imploding.”  
Harry and Hermione looked faintly sick at that image.  
“No.”  
Eriol switched tactics. “Tomoyo, I know you did what you thought was best,” he said condescendingly, “but now is a time to exercise good sense.”  
“I am. You almost killed Sakura with a spoon.”  
Eriol winced. “In all fairness, it was a sharp spoon. Not that I was consciously trying to kill her,” he added quickly.  
“And you weren't aware that you were laughing maniacally the whole time. And every other time before that.”  
“My dear Tomoyo, sarcasm does not become you.”  
“The answer is still no.”  
Eriol switched tactics again. “If you don't release the shield I'll be forced to make you do it,” he said warningly.  
“How, tough guy? Anything you can do, I can do better. I can do anything better than you,” she sang.  
Eriol moaned. She had employed her magic with that stupid little commercial ditty. Again. And he was forced to make an idiot of himself. Again. But there was one more thing he could try this time.  
He drew her in for a passionate kiss.  
The girls in the crowd sighed.  
“Hey, Potter!” someone called out. Malfoy came trotting up, smirking. “Jealous?” he asked, glancing at the two professors pointedly.  
“At least I can get a girlfriend, Draco,” retorted Harry.  
They glared at each other until Harry finally cracked and chuckled. “How was your first break at school?”  
Draco shrugged. “Great. How was your first break away from school?”  
Harry grinned. “Great,” he mimicked. “Thanks for the present."  
“Do you think they notice the crowd?” interrupted Ron gesturing at Tomoyo and Eriol.  
“Not that you'd notice,” replied Hermione.  
“Fine,” said Harry, caving into Ron's suggestion. He turned to Draco. “Put me down for 7 sickles at 7 minutes.”  
Hermione looked up from her book and raised an eyebrow. “Are they still at it? You'd think they'd have run out of air by now.”  
Ron snorted. “You'd think they'd have died of suffocation by now.”  
Draco checked the parchment he had been scribbling on. “Well, they're already double Alicia's bet at 2 1/2 minutes and still going.”  
“Damn,” swore Harry as Tomoyo and Eriol broke apart 1 1/2 minutes earlier than his bet.  
Tomoyo was wearing a smile. “The answer's still no,” she said, slightly dazed as she walked away.  
“Do you think I’m being too hard on him?” Tomoyo asked Sakura and Syaoran when she reached her room.  
“I think you should take the spells off of him soon,” suggested Sakura.  
Syaoran snorted. “I think you should take the spells off of him never. Just think of all the payback I could do.”  
There was a shout and a splash in the distance.  
“That doesn’t even begin what I mean to do to him,” smirked Syaoran.  
Sakura looked at Tomoyo and sighed. “I’ll take Eriol shopping with me. We don’t have classes until tomorrow afternoon.”  
“Oh no!” exclaimed Syaoran, bolting upright in his chair. “You are not going anywhere with – with him alone!”  
“Why, Syaoran. I believe you’re jealous,” stated Tomoyo.  
Syaoran flushed. “I am not! Don’t you remember what happened last time?”  
*Flashback*  
“It’ll only be for a minute,” assured Eriol. “We need it, we can’t transport into such a highly concentrated area, and we’re late. It’s never good to keep my guardians waiting. It’s never good to keep my guardians alone for two minutes, much less two hours.”  
Sakura looked at the car worriedly. “But they’ll miss it. There must be something wrong with it to be in the back of the auto shop.”  
“We’ll have it back before they know it. If they find out I’ll make sure they forget.”  
Syaoran gave him a dubious look. “It’s too logical an idea for you Hiiragizawa. Something is really flawed with that plan.”  
Tomoyo nodded in agreement. “Don’t you remember what happened last time you had a sure-proof plan?”  
“Which time?” asked Syaoran sourly.  
Eriol waved away their caustic comments. “Get in before someone finds us,” he warned.  
The three exchanged glances and got in against their better judgment. Eriol started the car and quickly exited the garage.  
“Uh oh,” said Tomoyo. “We’ve been spotted.”  
Eriol was about to look behind him when Syaoran hissed, “Eyes on the road, baka. You’re driving!”  
They bridged the top of a hill and began going down.  
“Um,” began Eriol.  
The other three looked at him. He sounded nervous.  
“I just found out what’s wrong with the car,” he said weakly. “The brakes don’t work.”  
Abruptly the hill looked much, much steeper, narrower, and more crowded.  
They picked up speed.  
“Oh. My. G-”  
Sakura cut her off. “This is a Catholic district,” she admonished.  
“But you can slow the car with your magic, right?” questioned Syaoran nervously.  
Eriol shook his head. “Then they’ll think it’s fixed and when the owners get it back…”  
“At least you know how to drive,” said Sakura tightly.  
“Actually, I’m still a year too young.”  
Sakura paled. “But Clow…”  
Eriol shook his head stiffly. “They were after his time.”  
They hit the steep decline and panicked.  
The whole thing was an advanced obstacle course with limited control of the car. There were more narrow misses than they could count and they were due to luck rather than Eriol’s use of the steering wheel. By the time they leveled out, three old ladies and a 17-year-old had nearly had heart attacks.  
They passed other cars by marginal distance and one older man would later end up in a bar drunk, and telling any who would listen about the damn little people who refused to grant him his wishes and the time he was doing 60 on the highway and a car passed him by like he was standing still. Not many, drunk or otherwise, listened to his ranting.  
*End Flashback*  
Tomoyo winced. “Well, that was with the four of us. I’m sure it’ll turn out better with just two. Besides, Sakura’s more than able to handle anything the world throws at them. I hope,” she added under her breath. Even without magic, Eriol was a…unique…person, to put it mildly.  
Sakura favored them with a reassuring smile. “I’ll keep an eye on him,” she promised.  
Eriol grinned his trademark grin. “Do you have everything?” he asked her.  
“Yep. I sent our packages ahead of us so I wouldn’t have to carry them,” replied Sakura tiredly. “I though we could transport ourselves from the park we passed a couple blocks back.”  
“Sounds good. I’ve been having so many mishaps today, it’s a relief to get out,” commented Eriol as they walked.  
“Why do you think I brought you shopping?” asked Sakura wryly.  
“So it was Syaoran. I suspected as much. Ah, well.”  
“You’re very accepting about that,” remarked Sakura as she began to set up the transport spell.  
“There’s not much to be done until I have the use of my magic one more,” said Eriol with a shrug. “Besides, I built up a store of grievances against Syaoran in case something like this should happen that I would be unable to retaliate.”  
Sakura chuckled. “Okay, prepare yourself. I’m activating the spell.”  
The image of the world blurred around them, and then gradually came into focus as they faced the castle. There was only one problem.  
It was the wrong castle!  
Sakura blinked. “Who moved Hogwarts?” she asked petulantly.  
Their attention was drawn to three girls who looked to be around seven splashing in the moat and a shimmering iridescent bird about the size of a grown man standing on the bridge, spreading his wings every once in a while to shake off droplets of water.  
“Excuse me,” began Eriol smoothly. “Can you tell us where we are?”  
They stopped abruptly and giggled, delighted to know something that the older boy didn’t.  
“I’m Melody, and this is Harmony and Rhythm,” said the girl with green tinted blond hair and green eyes, gesturing to who Eriol and Sakura assumed where her sisters.  
“Whatever we play together becomes real,” chimed in Harmony as she produced a harmonica from thin air and began playing along with Melody, who had begun to hum.  
“And you’re in Xanth,” finished Rhythm beating on a little drum. A miniature house made of cookies and candy flickered in the air between them.  
Sakura cocked her head at the large bird, trying to place him.  
“Melody, Harmony, Rhythm! What are you doing?” A woman appeared on the drawbridge.  
“Nothing, mother!” replied Melody cutely.  
“We were just playing in the moat when this man and lady appeared,” explained Harmony.  
“They asked where they were,” said Rhythm.  
“And we told them Xanth,” concluded Melody.  
The woman hurried out. “Hello. I’m Princess Ivy. I didn’t realize we had visitors,” she apologized. “We’re usually more alert about such things.”  
“It’s alright,” replied Sakura warmly, with a bow. “We didn’t know we were coming here to…”  
“Castle Roogna,” supplied Ivy.  
“Thank you. We didn’t know we were coming here either. My name is Sakura Kinomoto and this is my friend Eriol Hiiragizawa.”  
Ivy paused. “Are you, by chance, from Mundania?”  
Sakura looked confused, so Eriol jumped in, understanding what she was asking.  
“Yes.” Deciding that they probably didn’t keep magic a secret if the children used it so openly with strangers he continued. “I am a sorcerer and half reincarnation of Clow Reed. Sakura is a sorceress and Mistress of the former Clow, now Sakura, Cards.” He grinned ruefully. “It gets a bit complicated to explain even without the rest of our party.”  
Ivy was confused. “You can’t be from Mundania. There’s only minimal magic there, like that of a rainbow.”  
Sakura shook her head. “Most believe that, but those who use magic don’t make it well known.”  
“Interesting,” mused Ivy. “None of our magic works there at all.”  
“The Simurgh’s chick!” burst out Sakura. She flushed when the others looked at her. “Sorry, but he looked familiar.”  
“How do you know Sim?” asked Harmony.  
Ivy shook herself. “I am deeply sorry for our rudeness. Please come in for some T and crumples. I believe that my mother and father, Queen Irene and King Dor, would like to meet you.”  
She led them inside. The children and Sim, losing interest in what was to become an adult conversation, resumed their splashing.  
As they passed through the door a swirl of smoke appeared and a woman appeared in front of them.  
“What do you want, Metria?” asked Ivy expressionlessly.  
“I heard something tall was happening.”  
Sakura looked confused. “Something what?”  
“Giant, large, massive, huge, major–”  
“Big?”  
“Whatever,” agreed the demoness crossly. “So who are they?”  
“I’m Sakura Kinomoto and this is Eriol Hiiragizawa. I’m a sorceress and – ”  
“Sorceress? There haven’t been any sorceresses that we don’t know of and we definitely haven’t heard of you.”  
“We’re from – what do you call it – Mundania?”  
The demoness scowled. “Don’t lie. Mundania doesn’t have any magic.  
“Those who know about it don’t exactly go spreading the news around,” replied Eriol with his perpetual smile.  
“Don’t do that,” said Metria. “Ordinary mortal folk aren’t allowed to creep out demons.”  
“So sorry,” replied Eriol, expression not changing one whit. Indeed the whits were so frustrated that they shuddered and dissolved. (AN: Sorry. My attempt at Piers Anthony’s writing style. Falls a bit flat, ne?)  
“Someone has newspapers,” muttered Metria.  
“Has what?” asked Ivy before she could help herself. These were strange people for Metria to be as flustered as she was.  
“Weekly magazines – no wait. Problems, mental instability, inability to cope, enigma–”  
“Issues?”  
“Whatever,” agreed Metria, crossly fading out, forgetting why she had come.  
“Right this way,” said Ivy, gesturing through a doorway. “Mother, Father,” she began. “This is Eriol Hiiragizawa and Sakura Kinomoto, a sorcerer and sorceress from Mundania.”  
A picture sniggered. “If she expects us to believe her, she has another thing coming.”  
Queen Irene glared at it and said one word. “Firewood.”  
Abruptly the various objects in the room fell silent as Irene sat back in her throne with a faint smile on her face.  
“That’s impossible,” said Dor. “Mundania has no magic.”  
“If you’ll pardon my protest,” said Eriol with a bow, “that is incorrect. There is very little magic in what you call Mundania, but those who practice it or know of it keep it quiet. It is not surprising that people here in…Xanth,” he continued with the barest pause as he grasped for the land’s name, “believe otherwise.”  
“What is your talent?” challenged Irene.  
“Talent?” asked Sakura confused.  
“You claim to have magic. My magic talent is to make plants grow and my daughter, Ivy’s, talent is Enhancement. Both are Sorceress level. My husband’s is to enable the inanimate to speak in his presence, which is Magician level. You claim to be a Sorceress and a Sorcerer, which we assume is another name for Magician level. What is your talent?”  
“You’re limited to one type of magic only?” asked Sakura in astonishment.  
“How else do you wield other magics, except with charms and the like?” questioned Dor quietly.  
“Oh, we have charms and the like,” explained Sakura, “but we’re not limited to one thing. We learn different spells over the course of time, from books of other people. Most lean toward one specialty or another, so use magic related to those talents to get the best affect.”  
“Would you be kind enough to give us a demonstration?” Irene asked, raising her eyebrows.  
“What would you like us to do?” asked Sakura politely.  
“Only one of Sorceress level could stop my magic. I will try to grow my plants and you will prevent me,” explained Irene.  
“Sure,” agreed Sakura with a careless shrug.  
Irene scattered a few seeds. “Grow,” she ordered.  
The seeds didn’t move.  
“Grow!” commanded Irene more forcefully.  
Still nothing.  
The Queen settled back. “You have proved your point. Forgive us if we were doubtful.”  
“Of course, your majesties,” said Eriol smoothly.  
Then they began with technical talks, explaining some of their history, how they had gotten there, and how they knew the Simurgh.  
“When you’ve other-world traveler, you get to know the regulars, but everyone knows the wisest bird in the universe and all the worlds therein,” explained Eriol.  
“She mentioned that she had a chick, but we were told he stayed in her home world. We’d never been here you see and I’ve been meaning to visit them,” added Sakura.  
“You travel worlds? I thought it was only possible if you went through the chain of worlds located by my twin sister, Ida,” commented Ivy.  
“No. A lot are close enough that it doesn’t take much effort, and there is one that almost fully overlaps our world, that is called the Wizarding World. I’d love to be around when they finally meld,” said Sakura with a smile. Recalling a former question she added, “I still need to check my figures. We should have ended up back at Hogwarts.”  
She snapped her fingers and a scroll of paper landed in her hand.  
“Hmmm. Look. You left the parameters here too loose,” Eriol said, tapping a section of the parchment, “and these figures over here were meant for two magic users, not one with his power blocked from him. Without my magic I couldn’t sense the change. We were lucky we landed in such a hospitable world, instead of somewhere like Vsbubsk.”  
Sakura winced. “The Simurgh warned me about that world, a week before we went traveling again, but…” she trailed off.  
*Flashback*  
Sakura paused as they landed in unfamiliar territory: a dry, dirty street punctuated by bursts of eerie sounds emanating from nearby buildings.  
“Didn’t the Simurgh say something to you about this one,” Tomoyo asked her.  
Sakura frowned. “I think so, but I don’t remember what. I have a bad feeling about this, though, and it’s pretty dark.”  
“Why don’t you check the worlds’ map,” suggested Syaoran.  
“Okay.” Sakura looked around, but the streetlights were either broken or had yet to be turned on. With a shrug she summoned Glow.  
Immediately lights flared and sirens blared. People burst out onto the street, looking neither friendly, nor happy.  
“Uh oh,” whispered Sakura, taking a few steps backward.  
“What is it?” asked Eriol, looking a bit intimidated himself in the face of the hostile mob.  
“I think she said this was a world whose machines sensed magic and the Inquisition was never disbanded.”  
Tomoyo blanched. “Well then, let’s just cut this little visit short and–”  
She was cut off as the group hurriedly teleported themselves to a more friendly world just in time, for a laser had just seared the ground where they stood.  
*End Flashback*  
“We thank you for your hospitality,” said Sakura, munching on a pie and finishing the last of the mathematical corrections, “but we should be getting back before our friends and, uh, coworkers miss us.”  
“Yes,” agreed Eriol. “Thank you very much.”  
“You’re very welcome,” said King Dor. “I hope you will find the time to visit us, and bring along your friends. I am sure there are many sights you would enjoy to see.”  
“I think we will. We would have to wait until summer, though,” said Sakura apologetically. “Good bye.”  
The pair disappeared as if they had never been, but for the remains of a milk pod.  
They reappeared in a field overlooking a castle.  
It was the wrong castle.  
Sakura growled in frustration. “This is just not my day.”


	7. Worldtrotting

It was most definitely the wrong castle. For one, it was white and gold; most unlike the dreary fog gray of England. For another, it curved and spiraled in pleasant designs, something the stone walls of Hogwarts couldn’t do.  
Sakura sighed and called up the scroll again, holding it between Eriol and herself as if they were two tourists studying a map, which, in a way, they were.  
Eriol circled a section with his finger. “Your figures here are off.”  
Sakura scanned the paper for the cause. “Here,” she tapped a spot. “The location was too tight and squeezed us out to this world.”  
The two seemed not to notice the large unfriendly creature rise up silently behind them, the body like a gangly wolf with a bushy tail and fox-like snout.  
Eriol schooled his expression into neutrality, trusting Sakura since he was without magic.  
They also didn’t seem to notice the three girls racing out of the forest ½ mile away, dressed in school clothes with armored protection on one shoulder and a simple breastplate.  
Hikaru, Umi, and Fuu looked on in horror as they raced toward the couple who didn’t notice the slavering monster behind them.  
Tears filled Hikaru’s eyes, blurring her vision. They would be too late. It wasn’t fair! One of the last monsters left on Cephiro and it had ironically appeared in front of the castle to devour two traveling innocents. She dared not scream or the monster, it was called a draifne, might attack the two even more quickly.  
Sorrow became determination. Her magic would reach that far; get the monster before it jumped the travelers.  
She lifted her arm, never slowing her full-out sprint.  
“Honou no…ya!”  
Faster, she urged. Faster!  
Sakura scowled as she studied the paper.  
As the giant head bent down with open jaws, the creature suddenly shrank until it was barely two feet tall and found that it had a sunny disposition and its breath smelled like mint.  
“Nice touch,” commented Eriol when Sakura picked up the creature.  
“Well, his breath stank to high heaven,” retorted Sakura, as flames seemed to flow off an invisible wall.  
“That too,” agreed Eriol, watching the three girls that approached them, one of whom had sent the fire at the beast.  
Hikaru would have frozen in astonishment, but her headlong rush carried her to where the couple stood, Umi and Fuu at her heels.  
She paused, not quite defensive, but leaving her sword in her hand. “Who are you?” she asked cautiously.  
“Sakura Kinomoto,” she replied cheerfully. “And this is Eriol Hiiragizawa. Would you mind telling us what world we landed in this time?”  
The Magic Knights stared at them, wondering if Sakura was a bit touched in the head. Recalling what she had done to the draifne, they certainly hoped not.  
“This land is called Cephiro,” answered Fuu with a sweeping gesture, “and we are the Magic Knights. This is Hikaru Shidou and Umi Ryuuzaki. My name is Fuu Hououji. The three of us come from Tokyo, Japan.” They bowed politely and Sakura and Eriol bowed back.  
“Really?” exclaimed Sakura. “That’s near where we’re from. Except we’re teaching at – at a school in England,” she finished hesitantly and somewhat lamely, obviously holding something back. She gave them a critical once over. “Not witches, then. But not sorceresses or enchantresses either. Something in between, I think.”  
“Magicians? Or mages?” suggested Eriol.  
“Mages,” agreed Sakura decisively. “Well, then, I guess it’s okay to tell you. We’re teaching at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to help protect the students from the Dark Lord, and prepare them for the final battle. I’m a sorceress and Eriol’s a sorcerer when Tomoyo isn’t angry with him. Well, actually I guess he’s still a sorcerer, but unable to do magic.”  
The mages listened, dazed and somewhat confused at Sakura’s explanation, if you could call it that, since it explained very little. You had to know their background to understand it. They were teachers? They couldn’t be more than 17 or 18 years old. Of course there was Clef to consider and he appeared younger than these two. If that was the case they must be centuries old!  
“Come with us,” said Umi with a slight trace of uncertainty. “We’ll take you to see the Master Mage, Clef.”  
They trooped toward the castle Sakura and Eriol had first seen.  
“That was such a cool spell you did,” chattered Sakura happily to Hikaru. “I should try it some time.”  
The knights exchanged glances. Could she really do that?  
Eriol blinked. “You’re acting…strange. Perhaps we took a few too many wrong turns.”  
“Probably,” replied Sakura, limbs suddenly weighted with exhaustion. “My magic’s a bit low.” She looked down at the creature that kept pace next to her. “How about it Hanetsuki? You wanna carry me?”  
Hanetsuki chirped in agreement.  
Sakura gently unwound some of her magic until he was the size of a horse. She managed to get herself onto his back before passing out.  
“Baka,” murmured Eriol with a small smile. “We were almost there.”  
The group soon arrived at the castle. The silence was unnatural. Usually between Tarta, Tatra, Aska, Caldina, and any visitors, the halls would be filled with noise and the soundproof spells activated, while Clef massaged a growing headache, and one or more of the girls would watch to make sure he didn’t OD on their aspirin.  
“Clef?” called out Umi, pushing open the doors to his private chambers when a knock received no answer. He stood in the center of the room, his staff raised and glowing softly.  
Quietly the group filed in and waited for him to finish and become aware of them.  
Finally, he lowered his staff and turned with a sigh. He yelped at the sight and Umi quickly clapped her hands over Hikaru’s ears, anticipating what he was going to say next.  
“Dead Pillars among us!” he cursed. “What the hell (strangely, he had picked this one up from Fuu) is a draifne doing in my bedroom? And who are they?” he added belatedly.  
Umi cautiously lifted her hands from Hikaru’s ears, when she was sure that Clef was quite through with his profanity, terms from both Cephiro and Earth.  
The girl just looked at her quizzically before going into the introductions. “This is Sorcerer Eriol Hiiragizawa, Sorceress Sakura Kinomoto, and her draifne, Hanetsuki.”  
“She named the draifne,” Clef moaned. “It’s well behaved, I hope.” (AN: Translation: he’s potty-trained and won’t attack people randomly, I hope.)  
Hikaru shrugged and looked at Eriol.  
“It’s hard to say,” he replied, “and she’s gone and practically drained her magic again, so I can’t ask her. Heck, it’s hard enough getting her awake on a good day. I don’t think the spell needs to be constantly maintained, but I can’t be certain until I regain my magic.” Here he muttered under his breath glaring murderously into the air. “Although if it starts attacking anyone within range, that’s a pretty good sign.”  
“I fail to find that encouraging,” grumbled Umi.  
“So do I,” agreed Eriol with a grin. “Don’t worry. Trust her if you won’t trust me.”  
“I know that Tarta, Tatra, and Aska have returned to their home countries for the time being, but what happened to Caldina?” questioned Fuu.  
“I sent her with Dal Lafarga to find out what the strange spots of foreign magic were,” replied Clef, glancing pointedly at the two strangers. “Doubtless, they were sidetracked,” he finished wryly.  
He sent Fuu to show Sakura and the draifne to the infirmary before turning to Eriol. “So…”  
Eriol sighed. “I suppose you want to know all about us.”  
“It had occurred to me, yes.”  
So Eriol began a long, lengthy, and somewhat less confusing tale than Sakura’s about who they were.  
Sakura slowly regained consciousness, groggily wondering where she was, and struggling to bring the ceiling into focus.  
She was lying in a bed covered with white sheets. She supposed it was Cephiro’s equivalent of an infirmary and slowly turned onto her side. Eriol was sitting at a desk, frowning at the sheet of paper in front of him as if that would magically sprout the words he wanted.  
“What are you doing?” she attempted to say, but it came out as a groan. Her throat was dry and her tongue thick in her mouth.  
Eriol turned to grin at her and handed her a glass of water. “So you’ve finally decided to grace us with your presence.”  
“Us?” Sakura croaked, putting the glass down.  
“Actually it’s just me now,” replied Eriol cheerfully.  
“Peachy,” muttered Sakura sourly wondering what ungodly hour it was that she had woken up.  
“It’s actually 4:00 in the afternoon,” said Eriol as if he had read her mind. That was impossible of course. From her magic sight, though faint and reduced, she could tell his magic was still closed off from him. So she was becoming too predictable. She’d have to change that.  
Sakura sighed and lay back in bed while Eriol returned to his work.  
Click. Click. Click.  
She glared at him as he clicked his pen; it had become a bad habit of his. “Nervous twit,” she muttered under her breath.  
Click-click. Click-click. Click-click. Click-click.  
He pretended not to have heard her.  
She glared at him a glare she had learned from Syaoran and worked to master. She had grown quite proud of it actually. Unfortunately it didn’t find him quaking in his boots.  
Clickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickclickcli – SNAP!  
His pen had been broken neatly in two. Eriol glanced at Sakura before tossing it into the trashcan and returning to his pondering. His fingers began to tap a cadence on the desk.  
Tap. Tap. Tappity-tap. Tap. Tap  
“Eriol,” growled Sakura warningly glancing meaningfully at the pen she had broken telepathically and then back to his fingers. He got the message and forced his fingers to be still, wanting to be able to use them in the near future.  
“What is it that you’re working on?” she questioned.  
“Well, the 6th year classes I’m teaching are studying the magic of the Dark Ages. I figured they needed to know some of the background of that age, and I thought to prepare a quiz. How does this sound?  
“1. What color was the Black Death ?  
“2. How long did the Hundred Years’ War last?  
“3. What was the symbol used in the War of the Roses?  
“4. Who was captive in the Babylonian Captivity?  
“And for the bonus question: When was the war of 1812?”  
“You can’t be serious. They may be Muggle–, historically–, and hopelessly – ignorant, but they’re not that stupid. Hermione Granger will be bored to tears when she sees it.”  
“Well,” replied Eriol defensively, “I didn’t want the majority to fail all of my tests all the time.”  
Sakura rolled her eyes and attempted to go back to sleep. She was in incapacitated for two days and anxious to get back to the school despite the continued assurances of the Magic Knights that they had stayed for weeks and only been gone from Earth for a couple of minutes, so the two of them would only be missed for a couple seconds at most.  
The parting was tearful, as they had become fast friends. Remembering the talk of a wizards’ war Hikaru turned to Sakura and looked her in the eye.  
“If you ever need help, just summon us. We’ll do what we can to help.”  
Umi and Fuu nodded in agreement as Eriol looked on thoughtfully.  
Then Eriol and Sakura stood together and waved a last good bye as the two of them disappeared…  
And reappeared in front of Hogwarts, having triple-checked the spell’s figures.  
Or to be more accurate inside Hogwarts’ Gryffindor Tower.  
“Oh, come on ‘Mione. It can’t be that heavy.”  
“Believe me, Ron, it is. It’s even heavier after lugging it up multiple staircases.”  
“It’s just a bag of books.”  
“But it feels like a bag of bricks. I bet you couldn’t even lift it, much less carry it up here from the library.”  
Ron snorted. “Would you be willing to bet on that?”  
Hermione shook her head in exasperation. “You wouldn’t have any idea what these weigh. I doubt you’ve carried a book around that was more than 2 millimeters thick.”  
“So you admit that it’s not as heavy as you’re making it out to be?” said Ron smugly.  
Hermione’s eyes flashed with anger. “Three sickles and you have yourself a deal.”  
“Good.”  
Hermione dropped the large, bulging bag of books onto the floor, barely restraining herself from dropping it on his foot.  
“Go ahead, you big, strong, manly man” she said sweetly, fluttering her eyelashes at him mockingly. It was enough to make her sick.  
Ron just rolled his eyes and bent down to grab the straps of the bag in his right hand, and pulled. Rather than the bag moving, he did, and barely managed to keep himself from falling.  
Hermione stifled a giggle as Ron turned red and used two hands to heave it up.  
“Remember,” taunted Hermione, “lift with your legs, not your back.”  
He finally managed to get the bag off the ground and his muscles trembled as he struggled to get it on his back.  
Suddenly two bodies appeared.  
Hermione jumped and Ron lost his balance, falling down with the books on top of him.  
“Ow,” came a weak voice. And then, “Help. I’m stuck.”  
Sakura brushed herself off as Eriol looked around in amusement. “Still a little off,” he said. “We were supposed to be in our rooms, not the Gryffindor Commons.  
“Oh shut up,” muttered Sakura. “I ought to send you off to Balboa and see how you fare there, Eriol I-can’t-use-magic-to-save-my-own-freaking-life-because-I-was-drunk-again-and-tried-to-kill-my-half-daughter-again-and-pissed-off-my-girlfriend Hiiragizawa.”  
“A little help would be appreciated,” called Ron, his face red in embarrassment.  
“I believe you owe me 3 sickles,” said Hermione, quickly recovering from her surprise. She had, after all, had practice with such stunts as these since school began, though they still made her jump.  
“Get these bloody books the BLOODY HELL away from me!!” roared Ron.  
Hermione grinned as she complied.  
“Where’s Harry?” asked Eriol, looking around for the third member of the trio.  
Ron shrugged, both to answer the question and to relieve the soreness from his shoulders.  
Sakura closed her eyes, seeking him out, and then sighed. “Severus is chewing him out again. I’d better go fix that.” She slipped out into the corridors.  
Eriol smiled at the two students before waving and heading back to his own rooms, presumably to go beg Tomoyo for his powers back.  
“Mister Potter. Running around the hallways during study period?”  
“Er…um…” stuttered Harry.  
Snape waved away his excuses. “This will be costly I’m….” He trailed of looking at someone behind the boy. Harry was most definitely relieved to have the honor (ha!) of Snape’s attention away from him.  
Sakura had arrived on the scene and was holding up the Watery behind Harry’s back and giving the Potions Professor a warning look.  
Harry turned and saw Sakura with her hands behind her back. “Er, hello Professor.”  
Snape shook his head, understanding Sakura’s threat.  
“Hello Harry,” she greeted pleasantly. “Severus.” She nodded cordially and Harry turned his attentions back to Snape.  
Sakura nodded her head vigorously as Snape stared wide-eyed at her past Harry.  
Confused, Harry turned and saw nothing unusual.  
Snape shook his head before Harry turned back to him.  
“Potter,” he attempted in an unusually high voice, trying to ignore Sakura’s enthusiastic nodding. He cleared his throat. “Potter, whatever special privileges you believe you have,” he began with a half-hearted sneer. He gave a very un-Snape-like yelp, as he was soaked with cold water.  
“Ta ta, Harry,” Sakura said cheerfully, leading her fellow professor down the hall. Snape muttered something that sounded oddly like, “Well, I had to try.”  
Once Sakura was sure Harry was gone and no one was around she turned to the professor. “I told you to go easy on him. Trouble is coming faster than any of us realize and he needs any support he can get. You were doing okay until now. So. Watery will do the same to you whenever she or I believe you’re going to far. I’ll prove that you can teach an old dog new trick,” she finished with a grin.  
Severus glowered at her. “He was wondering the halls when he was supposed to be studying in the Gryffindor Tower. I will not give him special privileges.”  
“Deducting house points – fine, detention – okay. But chewing him out for it, drawing it out past where it should be is something you need to stop, Severus. You may think of him as a cocky little git, and they may think of you as a slimy git, but they need support. Starting now, if not sooner.”  
His expression softened. “It’s coming that soon?”  
Sakura looked away. “My dreams are vague, undefined images as of yet, but I need to call him and his army here before school is out or he’ll be at his peak when Harry has fallen from his. I’ve seen death. I’ve been training Harry in his sleep, honing his talents. He’s almost ready to sense auras, though it’s impossible for him – or any wizard – to see them. I need to quicken the pace now, though I’m afraid to exhaust him. Syaoran’s dealing with his physical skills; I must see to his magical ones. I’ll work with him on a shield as soon as he can sense when any of my group appears. He doesn’t know it’s me, of course,” she added quietly.  
She shook herself and smiled brightly. “Well, I guess I’ll see you later,” she said before parting.  
He watched her leave, concerned.  
“Sakura,” called Syaoran, shaking her. “Sakura,” he said again louder.  
“Let me try,” said Eriol pushing him aside with a grin. He was in a good mood because Tomoyo had let him use his magic again, although he had yet to get her to terminate the I can do anything better than you spell.  
“SAKURA KINOMOTO, GET YOUR ARSE OUT OF BED! YOU’RE LATE!!” he bellowed.  
The few remaining students in any of the four houses woke up with a start, but Sakura only stirred slightly.  
“Just…just five more hours, Touya,” she mumbled before dropping off to sleep.  
The two boys sweatdropped.  
“Sakura!” yelled Syaoran shaking her repeatedly.  
His reward was to get thrown back into a wall.  
Eriol laughed until he too was thrown away from the bed, this time at the door. He sighed and picked himself up. “You leave me no choice,” he told the sleeping figure before dousing her with ice cold water.  
“HOOOOOEEEEEE!! I’m late! Why didn’t you two wake me up sooner?” cried Sakura before rushing into the bathroom and slamming the door.  
Later that afternoon Tomoyo and Meiling were sitting outside the main doors, chatting happily in Japanese. They were one of the few professors with that period off and Albus Dumbledore had requested that they meet a guest he was expecting: Cornelius Fudge. He had even made a small hole in the spell that prevented people from Apparating to the school for the Minister of Magic’s convenience.  
Neither of them batted an eye when two people arrived on the doorstep. They bowed to them and were about to speak when the older, larger man (Fudge, they presumed) said loudly and slowly, “WE…NEED…TO…SEE…HEAD…MAS…TER…DUM…BLE…DORE.”  
“Baka desu ne,” glowered Meiling, gesturing in the Minister’s direction.  
“Hai,” nodded Tomoyo. She turned to him with a frown. “We’re not deaf,” she said, irritated and in perfect English. “Follow us.”  
Fudge looked surprised for a moment before walking after them. When they stopped in front of the statue he turned to his partner. “Percy, why don’t you go look for your brothers? I’m sure you’re looking forward to seeing them and the class should be almost over with.”  
Tomoyo examined the redhead thoughtfully. This must be another one of the Weasleys.  
Percy looked absolutely horrified. “But, but sir, you might need some…er…assistance. I can help with the tea or –”  
“No, no,” interrupted Fudge. “We have house elves for those sorts of things. Now, off with you. Take a break.”  
Percy unhappily headed out toward where Sakura and Syaoran now held their Care of Magical Creatures class.  
“Twinkies,” said Meiling clearly and led the way up the passage to the Headmaster’s office. Fudge followed, wondering exactly what Dumbledore thought he was doing telling a student his password. Why, the whole school would soon know it if he was so free with it.  
“We’ve brought him, Albus,” announced Meiling, her tone of voice telling him exactly what she thought of this incompetent wizard.  
Fudge glared at her. “Show some respect for your Headmaster. Really, Albus, I don’t know what you’re thinking, telling these two students your password and allowing them to be so informal.”  
To his annoyance the three of them chuckled.  
“They are not students, Cornelius. I’ve hired them and three others to teach and help protect the school.”  
Fudge turned purple. “I believe I’ve been more than lenient with you, Albus, but I draw the line at this. Hiring five children to teach your students and insisting that You-Know-Who is still alive?”  
“We are not simply ‘children’ Minister. One of our number is the reincarnation of Clow Reed himself and he’s not even the most powerful. If you had half a brain you would understand what all of the killings and dark marks mean. I assure you, the Death Eaters wouldn’t be so confident if Voldemort” – Fudge flinched – “were dead,” hissed Meiling.  
Cornelius didn’t believe a word of what they were saying. “Now you listen here –”  
“No, you listen,” interrupted Tomoyo, eyes flashing in anger. “There is no time left! You must gather your allies and you must do it now! What must we do to get it into your thick head? Death is coming and we must meet it head on.”  
Fudge had turned a very interesting shade of red. “I would insist that you hold your tongues!”  
“Tomoyo, Meiling, it would be better if I talked with him alone,” suggested Professor Dumbledore tactfully.  
“No, Albus. This has gone on far too long. You hired us to help protect the school and we will not stop now when the Minister of Magic is trying to work against us,” said Tomoyo softly. “We had planned to do this only if he would not see reason. Stand back. We will handle this. All of our kind against this poor representative of yours.”  
Before Cornelius could sputter himself into comprehension Meiling called out, words ringing with magic, “Sakura. It is time. The wizards’ Minister of Magic is here.”


	8. Preparations and Reparations

Percy wandered outside sullenly. How could he have been excluded from such an important meeting? And why send students out to meet them instead of a professor? He growled and finally looked around to see where he was.  
In front of him stood a class. He assumed it was Care of Magical Creatures, though Hagrid was missing. Instead a girl stood at the head of the class and a boy sat behind her, observing the students. She was holding a phoenix he recognized as Fawkes, Professor Dumbledore’s pet.  
With a frown he strode over to where they were. Even Professor Dumbledore wouldn’t let a student care for such a rare bird, though how she had gotten it was uncertain, as was what she was doing usurping the professor’s position. He would make sure that the pair got the trouble they deserved and explain the situation to the professor when he got back.  
Even as he stalked over to the class he heard the girl speaking.  
“In flight the phoenix looks like a flame, though those uneducated in such matters believe it to be a trick of the light. However, if you look closely at Fawkes’ feathers,” here she asked him to spread a wing, “you’ll see that they are, in fact, miniature flames, though do not emit heat unless it is time for him to be reborn again.”  
“What do you think you are doing?” interrupted Percy, crossing his arms.  
The boy (Syaoran) immediately leaped to his feet and watched Percy wearily.  
“Teaching a class. You’re brother, Ron, was in the one before this,” replied Sakura mildly.  
“Where is the professor?”  
“You’re looking at them,” replied Syaoran dryly.  
“Don’t think you can joke with me. You two will be in trouble when Hagrid gets back,” said Percy authoritatively.  
“Doubtful.” Sakura turned to Syaoran. “Pity we can’t give him a detention. Perhaps that would teach him some manners, but he’s out of school.”  
The class snickered and Percy’s face became as red as his hair.  
One of the Ravenclaws took pity on him and said, “It’s true. They’re our professors and you should probably leave before they decide to do something about you. They’re extremely powerful.”  
“Five points to Ravenclaw for being so kind to him,” said Sakura absently. “Now, if you’ll excuse us Weatherby,” she said with a smirk as he began spluttering, “we have a class to teach.”  
With a wave of her hand she teleported him into the castle and turned back to the challenge of teaching her class about phoenix in the two minutes before class ended. Let those with more patience than her handle him.  
“Sakura. It is time. The wizards’ Minister of Magic is here.”  
Her head snapped up and she narrowed her eyes.  
“Class dismissed,” Syaoran said quickly, the only one besides Sakura to have heard Meiling, and the students hurried away, too glad to get out a couple minutes early to ask questions.  
The two professors looked around to make sure no one was near and teleported away.  
It seemed as if a sheer curtain had descended over Dumbledore’s office. Everything could be seen as if through a haze. Then one person appeared, and another, and another. They seemed more substantial, more there, than the office itself. Soon the room was clearly much more populated than it was ever meant to be, and yet there was plenty of space. A crowd of faces gazed upon the quivering Cornelius Fudge, who at once realized that he was in trouble. Albus Dumbledore wisely looked on and did not try to interfere as Tomoyo and Meiling blended into the ghostly crowd.  
Suddenly there was a stir and the people parted before someone and then she stood before the Minister, ethereal and proud. The image was somewhat ruined by a large yawn.  
“What?” asked Sakura, glaring at her fellow snickering sorcerers and sorceresses. “How would you feel if you ended up in two different worlds by accident all on the same day?”  
“You’re just a child,” exclaimed Cornelius before he could help himself.  
Sakura lost it. “And wiser than you! Idiot! You would endanger your whole world and all the lives in it just because you wish what is happening not to exist? You owl Albus everyday asking for advice, yet ignore it when he gives you what is most important of all and what you wish most not to hear. Indeed, you threaten him for doing what you will not. Blind, pathetic, lazy baka yarou!! All you needed was veritaserum and you couldn’t even do that?! You sent an innocent man to jail without a damned trial nor could you get someone to brew the truth potion for you. You had years (and I’d like to take years off of your life) to do it! By doing so you condemn Harry Potter to live with his aunt and uncle (no offense Albus), who don’t even deserve to be called human beings much less Muggles! You took known Death Eaters’ words that they were brainwashed and saw the error of their ways; again without the veritaserum thing! You don’t bother to clear up any misconceptions when faced with witnesses who swore that Peter was still alive, condemned an innocent hippogriff to death, honored one of Voldemort’s followers, and then, to top it all off, you believe one of Rita Skeeter’s articles and took her word over what anyone else told or showed you!! Am I missing anything!!”  
He cowered before her, rage making her seem to tower above him. “N-no,” he stuttered.  
“Damare! That was rhetorical, you nitwit!  
“You do not seem to question what advice he gives you until it is anything you feel would jeopardize your position, and then – this is the real irony – you try to replace him when anyone can see that these children need protection and he is the best guardian you can have! I, Sakura Kinomoto, Card Mistress, and most powerful sorceress of my time, now pass judgment on you, Cornelius Fudge, Minister of Magic, and pompous ass, as Yue once did on me, with my fellow sorcerers and sorceresses of the past, present, and future as witness. You, who have asked the advice of Albus Dumbledore for so long, will now do so in all matters and follow his advice to the letter. We feel that changing ministers so close to the war will add to the chaos, so as soon as we find a suitable replacement and once the war is over, you will hand over your position to the witch or wizard of our choosing. And you will be cursed with the knowledge of what happened here, but never be able to tell of it.”  
“So mote it be,” murmured the assembled crowd before slowly disappearing as the room came back into focus.  
Sakura turned wearily to Albus, ignoring the shocked Minister of Magic. “I’m sorry for leaving so much extra work on your shoulders, but there was really no one else to turn to.”  
“Quite alright,” murmured Albus, face unreadable.  
“Leave,” hissed Sakura to Cornelius, anger practically spent. “You’re damned lucky you got away so lightly.” She watched, somewhat amused, as he scrambled hastily out the door. Once he was gone she sighed. “At this rate, the whole school’s going to know about us.”  
“Lemon drop?” offered Albus consolingly.  
“Arigato gozaimasu,” she muttered taking one.  
“Hey Harry,” said Tomoyo softly, as they were in the Library. “What are you reading?”  
He jerked back in surprise, but didn’t jump this time. Tomoyo nodded in approval. It was about time his dream training started coming into play. He was beginning to sense auras, though not very well yet. Lord knew she had been making her aura shine bright as the sun and extend as far as she could make it, and the only ones who noticed were her friends.  
“It was a present from Hermione,” he explained, showing her Myths and Realities: What is the Truth? “I’ve just gotten to the section on Eastern Magic.”  
Tomoyo blanched. “Um…may I see it?” she asked.  
“Sure,” said Harry, handing it to her with the page he was reading open.  
Tomoyo let loose an impressive string of expletives in her head as she thumbed through the pages. As she had suspected, Clow Reed was in there. Almost caught us off guard there, Hermione, she thought ruefully. Thankfully, the girl didn’t suspect a thing as of yet. It was just dumb luck.  
She returned the book and then began to sing softly,  
“Nenneko, nenneko, nenneko ya!  
“Achira muitemo yama yama;  
“Kochira muitemo yama yama.  
“Yama no naka ni nani ga aru?  
“Shii ya donguri kaya no mi.”  
“Sleep, sleep, little one, sleep!  
“I turn that way, but I see only mountains.  
“I turn this way, but I see only mountains.  
“In the midst of those mountains what can there be?  
“There are shii-nuts and acorns and seeds of kaya.”  
Harry struggled to stay awake, to keep his eyes open, but he lost the battle and sank into the welcoming arms of sleep.  
Tomoyo sighed and gently took the book back once more, flipping to the page where Clow’s picture was smiling and waving. “You know,” she said, weaving her fingers in runic patterns over the book, “we wouldn’t be having so much trouble if it wasn’t for you and your urge to be center-stage.”  
He gave her a decidedly ‘Eriol’ look and she grinned at him as his section faded away. “I’m not sure if that’s good or not,” she murmured to the blank pages before slipping it in front of Harry.  
“Okosu,” she said sharply, clapping three times.  
He started upright and looked around. “Sorry,” he muttered sheepishly, rubbing his eyes. “I must be more tired than I thought.”  
“Don’t worry about it,” Tomoyo replied cheerfully before traipsing out of the library.  
Harry shook his head as if to clear it. He felt as if he had forgotten something. Unbidden, a tune floated into his head, one he didn’t recognize. “Nenneko….”  
School passed quickly and the days ran together into a fairly monotonous blur. The students had to get reacquainted with Nakuru’s screeching and Tomoyo’s obsessive recording of anything to do with her Sakura-chan and such, but they soon recovered. It was also unusual to see ice cold water suddenly dump onto Professor Snape, but it kept him in, well, not a good mood exactly, but a much friendlier person. Tomoyo finally took her last spell off of Eriol, which was a relief to him.  
Harry could now sense auras with some skill, which he used to avoid anyone on those nights when he wandered the halls in his Invisibility Cloak. Hermoine and Ron suspected he knew more than he told them, but let it slide. Harry didn’t know what to do. He wanted to tell them about his dreams, but he couldn’t. Not for the first time he wondered if the voice in his dreams meant to harm him.  
With a start he realized that he was standing before Professor Yue’s office door. He shrugged and knocked, deciding that if anybody could help him, it would most likely be the Defense Against the Dark Arts’ professor.  
“Come in,” came a friendly voice and he opened the door to behold a young man with short, white hair and a friendly smile on his face.  
“Oh, I’m sorry,” said Harry, slightly embarrassed. “I was looking for Professor Yue.  
“My name’s Yukito Tsukishiro. I’m a…friend of Yue. Perhaps I could be of some assistance?”  
“It’s just…. Well, I’ve been having….” Harry couldn’t get the words out.  
“Dreams?” asked Yukito with a smile.  
“How did you know?” asked Harry in surprise, and a little suspicious.  
“Just a guess,” he replied with a shrug. “Seeing as how you’re here so late and all.”  
“Ah.”  
“If your dreams don’t make you feel uneasy or scared, then I wouldn’t worry, especially if your scar doesn’t react. Good night, Harry.”  
“Good night, Mr. Tsukishiro,” replied Harry, understanding he was being dismissed. It wasn’t until he was out in the hall that he realized what Yukito had said. How had he known about his scar?  
Chaos unleashed, everywhere was a whirl of shapes in shadow and moonlight… Where am I? What’s happening?   
…The screams of the wounded and the battle cries of those in the grip of blood lust…  
Stop! Please, I don’t want to see this.  
…Chanting, both fair and foul, the small movement of a wand that goes almost undetected…  
It feels like a void, no up or down, past or future, only this moment of chaos and death.  
…Flashes of light give the field larger than life shadows from the nightmares of children and men…  
It is a field, isn’t it? For a moment it looked like a river of blood.   
…The earth drinks the sacrifice greedily, unheeding, taking no sides, just soaking in the blood until it begins to overflow, and yet, more lifeblood mingles with the rest, good and evil having no place in Death’s impartial rule…  
I’m trying my hardest to sort this out, but it’s like undoing the threads of Fate. I have to do better; I have to make this right.  
…She suddenly notices the steady pulsing light, not the product of a spell…   
What are they? Important somehow, but I can’t tell what the light is.  
…For a moment she sees and is lost in her panic…   
No! Oh God, no! They’re glass, they’re made of glass.  
…The glass is so fragile, paper thin, and she redoubles her efforts in an attempt to protect them…  
I can’t get there in time, I can’t manipulate two threads of Fate at once! Please, don’t break it!  
…The glass falls so quickly to the stone ground, yet to her eyes it is in slow motion… Zet…tai… It won’t break, it won’t break, it won’t break, don’t break…   
…And shatters into a million fragments, glinting like stars in the light of the moon…  
NOOOOOOO!!  
…Sound stops as if cut with a pair of scissors and everything is pitch black as a voice echoes in the empty spaces…  
Zettai…daijoubu desu yo…

Sakura sat bolt upright in bed, gasping, beads of seat running down her pale cheeks, and disentangled herself from the sheets. She glanced at Kero to make sure he was still asleep before looking at her clock. 5:08. Sakura figured she might as well get up and headed towards the teachers’ lounge to see if Hannah and Minerva, dubbed the two early birds, were up yet. She would get no more sleep this morning. One of her group would die in the battle to come, and she knew who.  
“Albus, I need a meeting of everyone who knows our identity, today if not sooner,” says an agitated Sakura. “We have much to discuss and little time. After that you may want to call a conference with the whole staff.”  
The Headmaster watches the passing girl and feels sympathy for her. “What about?” he questions, though he can guess.  
She stops and turns to him. “Voldemort. I will call him here the last, no, third to last day of school while the students’ studies are fresh in mind and ready to be grasped, Lord prevent it from being needed. Harry is progressing steadily in his training and is learning to call up shields with only the amount of power needed to block an attack behind it, no more, no less. He will be as ready as I can make him while the Dark Lord has not yet reached his peak. There will be much to discuss in the first meeting and many questions to answer if you have a second.”  
“It will be tonight then, 7:00 in the conference room. I will alert Minerva, Hannah, and Severus. Is there anyone else?” asked Albus.  
“No. I will bring the rest of my group. No one else.” She walked away wearily, feeling as if the world weighed down her shoulders.  
On her way outside she ran into Harry. “Hello,” said Sakura with a cheerful smile.  
“Professor Kinomoto, I was wondering…who’s Yukito?”  
Sakura looked surprised. “You’ve met him? He’s my brother, Touya’s, boyfriend and a…close friend of Yue,” she answered with a faint smile, as if something she said was a joke.  
Harry looked at her, not sure if he’d heard correctly. “Boyfriend?”  
“Oh yes,” said Sakura with a nod. “It took them years to get together, but now they’re practically inseparable. Urg, bad thought,” she muttered, eye twitching as she reconsidered her choice of words, really not wanting to know what her oniichan and Touya did together when they were alone for long periods of time.  
“But isn’t that, well…” said Harry, not sure how to express what he wanted to say.  
“Wrong? No, Harry. People should keep an open mind about such things. It’s as natural as heterosexual relationships, perhaps more so. After all, who better to understand yourself than one of your own sex? I’m not trying to suggest you get a boyfriend or anything like that. Sometimes we adhere to society’s ‘rules’ more than we do even the law, when we should be ourselves. Just keep an open mind.” She ruffled his hair and walked past him.  
He gazed after her thoughtfully before walking off to find Ron and Hermione.  
“He’ll be here three days before school gets out. I’m pushing Harry as hard as I feel I should, but he doesn’t get enough sleep because of his dream training. I’m worried that he’ll be too tired to pay attention in class, and he needs to know everything you can teach him. I think he should be taken out of Divination, and perhaps Astronomy, and given another study period during that time as well,” explained Tomoyo.  
It was already half an hour into the meeting and very little had been decided.  
“And you believe that in that time when so many professors and students occupied, including his friends, that he will not have the urge to go wandering through the halls?” questioned Severus with a raised eyebrow.  
“One of us will be watching to prevent that,” explained Eriol smoothly. “We’re thinking that he’ll be tired enough to use that time to sleep, or study since he’ll probably be going to bed early as well.”  
“We need an army of volunteers, and only volunteers. There’s not enough time to gather wizards and witches outside of England, get them to believe us, and train them. The people we do have need to be screened, perhaps with a truth potion or something similar,” said Sakura.  
“We know that our army will be relatively small, so our group will make up the difference,” added Meiling. “The students and all professors will stay in the school. We’re planning to erect a barrier with the help of Touya and Fujitaka, perhaps Aunt Yelan.”  
Syaoran made a choking sound.  
“Well, I haven’t asked her yet,” said Meiling, irritated. “So don’t go being surprised yet.”  
Yue broke in. “You should also look for healers to help Madame Pomfrey. The wounded will be brought back into the school and there will be far too many for just her to handle. You should also stock up on supplies and potions.”  
“There’s no other way then,” stated Minerva faintly.  
“No,” replied Sakura softly.  
“We’re going to war.”


	9. Painted Black

Harry, Ron, and Hermione were taking advantage of their break by studying in the library. Harry and Ron were there under protest and took every possible chance to remind Hermione of this.  
"Y'know who Professor Hiiragizawa reminds me of?" asked Ron suddenly, out of the blue.  
"Who?" asked Harry, desperate for a distraction from his explanation of the common properties of mursorte and how it's used in the Multi-Colored Leaf potion. It's a weed, thought Harry irritably. It doesn't do anything. And who cares about such a stupid, worthless potion, anyway?  
"Professor Dumbledore."  
The three of them shuddered. One was quite enought, thank you.  
Silence reigned for a time until-  
"This is so boring," complained Ron, glaring alternately at his potions essay and Most Potente Potions.  
Hermione ignored him and continued her research as if he wasn't there.  
"How far have you gotten on your essay, Harry?" asked Ron morosely. "Harry?" he repeated when there was no reply and looked over at his friend. He was sleeping, face down in his book.  
Ron nudged him and he promptly fell off his chair. "Oww," Harry moaned, crawling back into his seat.  
"You fell asleep again," commented Hermione wryly.  
"Sorry," moaned Harry, rubbing his eyes.  
Hermione and Ron exchanged glances.  
"Um...Harry," began Hermione slowly. "I'm your friend, so I'll say this as gently as possible. You-"  
"Look like crap," interrupted Ron bluntly.  
"Ron!" exclaimed Hermione before clapping her hand over her mouth, remembering that they were in the library.  
"Well, it's true," said Ron. "Haven't you been getting any sleep? You're going to need it with O.W.L.s coming up."  
"Yes, I have been sleeping. I think I've been sleeping more than usual lately and I feel as if I've been awake the whole time. The extra study period they gave me I've been using to sleep as well."  
"After attempting to sneak out first," grinned Hermione.  
Harry gave a rueful grin back. The first time he'd practically tripped over Kero. The second he'd bumped into Nakuru. That alone was enough to make him quit for a while and be more cautious in the future. The third time he'd been seen by both Kero and Meiling, though he didn't know how. He'd thought they were sufficiently distracted with their bickering. The fourth time he'd come across Meiling alone. When he'd been caught by both Spinel and Nakuru, that was sufficient enough to make him stay in the Gryffindor Tower for good.  
They heard a crash outside in the hallway and the three hurried to the door and peered outside at the mess.  
Snape was glowering down at a whimpering Neville who was sitting in a pool of liquid. For a heartstopping moment they thought it was blood, then noted with relief that it was too orangey and the glass that was scattered about, hinted at the shape of a bottle.  
"Ten points from Gryffindor!" hissed Snape, bringing out his wand to clean up the mess. "Honestly, Mr. Longbottom, at least attempt to use some of your martial arts skills outside of the club and perhaps, just once, you can avoid killing something out of sheer clutziness!"  
Neville scrambled to his feet and made his way over to the trio as the Potions Master stalked off.  
Hermione strained her ears to hear him mutter, "Sakura won't be pleased." She puzzled over that cryptic comment as the boys tried to comfort Neville.  
"How did Snape know?" asked Harry, puzzled.  
"Know what?" asked Ron absently.  
"That Neville is the best out of all of us at martial arts. He's advancing rapidly and both Professor Li's are impressed," replied Harry. "Snape wouldn't bother watching practice and I can't imagine him being even the least bit curious."  
The four looked at each other and shrugged. Mysteries had been very easy to come by lately.  
"My apologies, Sakura, but Neville managed to break the last bottle of my dreamless sleep potion and it will take me a few days to make a new batch. This is just a regular sleeping potion, unless you wish for the Drought of Living Death," added Severus in jest.  
"I'm sure an ordinary sleeping potion will be just fine," replied Sakura with a forced laugh. It seemed to her that every smile, every laugh, every word, even, was fake, a lie. Her eyes were haunted with the visions she had seen. Until she had asked for a potion she had dreaded sleep and awoke as early as her visions allowed her. She thought she had hidden her inner torment even from her friends until she had overheard Syaoran and Tomoyo talking about her. Since then she had forced herself to act more cheerful than ever and as far as she knew, it worked.  
"Thank you, Severus," said Sakura, taking the bottle and watched him walk away before shutting the door to her room. She glanced at the clock on her way in and saw that it was almost midnight. Almost everyone would be sleeping but for Severus, Minerva, and Filch, who were patrolling the halls.  
With a sigh she threw her head back and drank before putting the empty bottle on the desk and crawling into bed.  
None of the teachers had been happy about the news of the pending war and some at the regular teacher's meeting had outright protested that the students and staff would be staying at Hogwarts during the fighting that was to take place outside their doors. Albus had sent for Remus Lupin and Sirius Black and thankfully no mention of the group's true identities had been needed. The nine of them were the wizards' secret weapon, though most didn't know it.  
These thoughts receded to the back of her mind as the now-familiar dizzying sensation took place and she was shoved into sleep by the potion.  
I see a red door and I want it painted black  
No colors anymore, I want them to turn black  
Sakura walked through the dark empty corridors of the school. Her feet were bare and she seemed not to notice the cold, dressed in her pajamas. She didn't know where she was going. She wasn't even aware she was awake. Behind her the dark walls, doors, floor, everything, became black. Sakura was not aware she had sunk into a deep depression. She wasn't aware of anything but her vision, her curse, her nightmare.  
I see the girls walk by dressed in their summer clothes  
I have to turn my head until my darkness goes  
I see a line of cars and they are painted black  
With flowers and my love both never to come back  
Sakura's eyes were open wide and unseeing, or perhaps seeing something beyond the physical reality of the building. Her feet seemed not to touch the floor and she neither stumbled nor fell.  
"Don't break, don't let the glass break," she chanted over and over again under her breath.  
Her aura flared wildly, but all who could sense it were asleep, faces troubled, but none stirred, though Syaoran would usually have been the first awake and ready with the rest of the group right behind him.  
Sakura was surrounded in darkness, alone, and with every step she took, that area reflected her thoughts and feelings and turned black, as if painted with darkness.  
I see people turn their heads and quickly look away  
Like a new born baby it just happens every day  
I look inside myself and see my heart is black  
I see my red door and it's heading into black  
Tears trickled down her cheeks and she sobbed, leaning against a wall.  
It immediately turned so dark a black that the individual stones could barely be seen.  
Sakura almost woke up at that moment, but her vision and the sleep potion dragged her back into unconsciousness.  
"Am I selfish?" asked Sakura brokenly, her voice seeming to come from far away as she stared down at the broken fragments in her dream. "Am I truly crying for all of the deaths of this battle and for what everyone will do after the glass breaks, or am I crying because of the broken glass alone? Am I that selfish? Am I so..." she let out a choked sob. "...Black?"  
Her body continued down the hall as her mind ran through the questions. She was trapped in her vision.  
Maybe then I'll fade away and not have to face the facts  
It's not easy facing up when your whole world is black  
She came to a full-length mirror in the hallway and faced it. She was the only color reflected back and in some corner of her mind she realized that, saw it, and took no notice.  
Gently Sakura reached out to touch the smooth surface. Immediately it clouded over and the image was darkened, tinted.  
She shrieked, screaming anger and pain,fear and sorrow. In their beds, those sleeping broke out in a cold sweat, sleep disturbed by an image of blood and fighting, the sound of dying men and women screaming or moaning, the coppery smell of blood. They stirred, but did not awaken, and then the nightmare was replaced and forgotten.  
I wanna see it painted painted, painted black, oh baby  
I wanna see it painted painted, painted black, oh baby  
Sakura's eyes abruptly focused as she jerked awake.  
Where am I?  
Half blinded by tears and fear of the dark, she stumbled through the closest door, slamming it shut behind her, not even noticing it was the teacher's lounge.  
Severus jerked his head up, startled. His wand was halfway through the motion of a spell when he realized who it was.  
"Sakura?" he asked.  
Suddenly blackness spread out from her and covered the room, dimming the lights until they were practically useless and he heard Sakura sobbing harshly.  
"Minerva!" he bellowed. She had left just moments before out the side door, so would not have seen Sakura coming. Oh, why was this happening to him now? He was no good with crying females. Or any females for that matter. Or anyone, actually.  
"Lumos!" he muttered. His wand flickered and almost died, like a candle, as Minerva burst through the door.  
"Lumos, lumos, lumos! Dammit, work!" he snarled in frustration as his wand flickered. It wasn't supposed to do that.  
"What is going on?" demanded Minerva.  
"Light," choked out Sakura, and the card lit up the room, shining off her tear-streaked face.  
The two professors frowned at the walls.  
"Is it paint?" murmured Severus, prodding the wall with his wand.  
Without warning Sakura burst into tears again and Professor McGonagall rushed over, holding the girl close to her as the Potions Master hovered awkwardly around them.  
"Sh. It's all right, dear. Don't worry," murmured the woman over and over again.  
No more will my green see go turn a deeper blue  
I could not foresee this thing happening to you  
He had missed the signs, they all had. Sakura had seemed as overly happy and cheerful as ever. It was as she had told Severus before.  
"I smell water, a storm."  
"What does it smell like?" he had replied, curious.  
"...Unusual."  
"How so?"  
"It smells like a storm of tears."  
"..."  
"Be careful. Watch out for those you care for."  
"Like who?"  
"Well, how about Hermione? She's pretty. And intelligent too," she had said with a grin, lightening up the grim mood.  
"What do you take me for?! A pedophile?!"  
She had been hiding her anguish, he could see that now. He had no idea such a thing could happen to her. Sakura had been right about a storm of tears. Even so, he had a feeling that the storm had not yet come to pass, that she had not been talking about herself at all.  
He grimaced. Crying females. He just couldn't understand them.  
If I look hard enough into the setting sun  
My love will laugh with me before the morning comes  
Sakura was murmuring something so that Minerva leaned closer to hear, even as she rocked her back and forth.  
"I'm so selfish, so black-hearted, how can I feel like this, so selfish," Sakura was mumbling.  
"No, no," whispered Minerva. "Oh, no. You're one of the most unselfish and kind person I've ever met. What's wrong, Sakura? Let us help you."  
Eventually Sakura's tears slowed and then finally stopped. She rested there a moment before leaving the security of the warm embrace.  
"I'm fine," she said as she stood. "It was just...just a nightmare." She glanced around. "My aura must have projected my mood while I was sleepwalking," she explained as she spread her arms and concentrated on dissipating the black that had overtaken whatever she touched.  
With a sigh, she lowered her arms. "I hope I didn't wake anyone," she said as she headed for the door.  
Sakura paused. "Perhaps we should use the Drought of Living Death until the dreamless sleep potion is ready. And thank you," she said softly before exiting the room, leaving the two no chance to reply.  
She leaned back against the door wearily and closed her eyes for a moment.  
I wanna see it painted painted, painted black, oh  
Black as night, black as coal  
I wanna see the sun blotted out from the sky  
Painted, painted, painted black oh baby  
Painted painted, painted black


	10. If Wishes Were Feathers

Sakura silently reached for the salt, making sure not to look at the 10 pairs or so of eyes trying to catch her attention and attempting to use the noise of the Great Hall as an excuse for being unable to hear their use of her name. She suspected that they were getting suspicious though, when shouting and not-so-subtle kicking under the table elicited no response. When several of them were about to attempt several different spells and not all of them totally harmless, she pushed back her chair abruptly and smiled at a point above her companions' heads, still not making eye contact.  
"Gotta go get the lesson plan ready. Bye," she said quickly before disappearing.  
"Liar," muttered Tomoyo. Syaoran was the one with the lesson plan and, knowing Sakura, had it written out days ahead of time.  
Syaoran sighed. "She's blocked herself off again."  
"Oh well," Eriol said with a shrug as he examined what was left on his breakfast plate. "Gives us more time to plan how to torture - er - get the information out of her. Painlessly, of course," he added with an uncertain smile as a slew of people glared at him.  
First thing that morning, Minerva and Severus had gone to the group to ask what was wrong with Sakura. She, of course, had expected that and was avoiding them, as her group had no idea what was going on.  
Syaoran pushed back his chair. "I'll go look for her. I doubt I'll find her before class, but I don't have anything to do right now."  
"You know what?" said Harry as he turned a corner and raced down the stairs with Draco at his heels.  
"What?" gasped Draco as the two of them skidded around the corner, determined to make it to breakfast with enough time to eat at a sedate pace, even though they were still three floors and two corridors away.  
"I have this strange feeling that someone's going to appear right in front of us," replied Harry. He had been having these feelings ever since he learned how to effectively sense auras in his dreams. They (the dreams, not the auras) had become more intense lately and Harry figured that was why he kept waking up late.  
"Yes, yes," said Draco in mock exasperation. "We all know that you and your scar know all." He hadn't been around Harry as much as Ron and Hermione had this past year, so he hadn't learned to pay attention when Harry said stuff like that. Ah well, thought Harry. He'll learn.  
So he did a quick sidestep so that he was a couple of feet away from Draco when a body appeared and Draco crashed into it - her, corrected Harry when he saw that it was Sakura.  
"Sorry about that," said Sakura, the first of the two to recover her wits. She stood and then held out a hand to Draco who took it somewhat dumbfoundedly.  
"You might want to slow down when you get to the Great Hall. By that time Argus will have just finished breakfast and be patrolling that hallway," Sakura informed them before walking off with a quick glance around her, as if checking to make sure no one was following her.  
Draco stared at her retreating back and then Harry. When he showed no inclination to move, Harry jerked him into a run and they once more resumed their sprint to the Great Hall.  
"Yes, yes," said Draco irritably. "No need to say 'I told you so.'"  
"But I didn't say anything protested Harry, panting somewhat.  
"I know you too well."  
"Not well enough obviously."  
"Shut up."  
"Just pointing out the - "  
"Shut up."  
"But - "  
"Shut up."  
Harry gave up and focused on not tripping down their last flight of stairs.  
"I'm fine!" shrieked Sakura for the umpteenth time that day. "Fine, fine, FINE!!"  
"Actually," corrected the Headmaster with the usual twinkle in his eye, "I was just going to tell you that we have about 275 volunteers for the army and we caught 7 Deatheaters with a truth potion. You may review the army if you wish."  
"Oh," said Sakura sheepishly, "er...okay. Thanks."  
"You're welcome. Are you absolutely positive that you're all right?" asked Albus Dumbledore.  
Sakura didn't know whether to laugh or throw something at him and he wisely took this time to depart. Quickly.  
"I'll check the volunteers, if you want me to," suggested Syaoran, having heard the whole thing as he came around the corner.  
"Go ahead," said Sakura wearily. "Take Meiling with you. She's been edgy lately and you'll get done faster with a partner."  
She continued on down the hall until she heard voices. It sounded like Eriol, Minerva, and Severus. She paused when she heard her name and listened more carefully.  
"The blackness could have been caused by either her aura flaring out of control and affecting anything nearby in the most basic form of communication, or it could have been a way of warning us that something was wrong," Eriol was telling them. "My guess would be a combination of both. She must have been suffering from depression for a while for it to react so dramatically."  
"She asked me to make her a dreamless sleep potion a few weeks ago," remarked Severus.  
Sakura growled under her breath. Damn it, that was a secret.  
"Ah," said Eriol in a voice that gave nothing away. "So that's it."  
Sakura could practically see Minerva arch an eyebrow in her mind's eye and stifled an almost hysterical giggle.  
"What, pray tell, is 'it'?" questioned the Transfigurations professor in a tone that bore no argument.  
"Sakura sometimes has foretelling dreams, especially before a large event. She dreamt of both her final judgment and my coming before they happened."  
"Hence the term, 'foretelling dream'," muttered Severus sarcastically.  
"She must be seeing that battle whenever she sleeps," continued Eriol, ignoring him. "She seems better today, more cheerful. Possibly she has reconciled herself to an image of the future."  
Sakura slunk away. You have no idea how close you are to the truth, she thought.  
The last day of school drew closer and both the students and the army worked frantically, though for very different reasons. The students stayed oblivious to the soldiers with little difficulty, as they were concentrating on their exams. Aurors trained the volunteers with Mad Eye Moody at their head and occasionally one of the Cardcaptor group, Minerva, or Albus would pop in to help. At first the volunteers were surprised by them, but quickly grew used to, and even welcomed, the new routines they brought as their bodies adjusted to the quick thinking and constant alertness. A single quick flick of the wand could be the difference between life and death.  
The Cardcaptor group trained apart from the army. Sakura, who had been a natural archer, practiced at least an hour and a half each day to get back into shape and then spent her free time either honing her magic with whoever was free or sword fighting with Syaoran and Meiling. Guns and bombs hadn't been introduced into the wizarding world and, hopefully, never would be.  
Finally, two days before the battle, Sakura, Syaoran, Tomoyo, Eriol, Meiling, and Kero approached three of the professors early in the morning before classes had started.  
"Sorry I'm late," gasped Sakura as she rushed into the appointed room. And slammed the door behind her, leaning against it. "Sybil," she said the name as if it left a bad taste in her mouth, "insisted on telling me in front of Harry that this would be the final battle, the deciding factor between light and dark."  
"And what did you do?" asked Tomoyo when it was clear that Sakura wasn't going to add anything.  
"Told her that was exactly what was said about World War I, the war which subsequently led to World War II and the Cold War, and suggested she get her facts straight before fleeing and hoping that Harry was confused enough to keep quiet or forget it," replied Sakura airily. "What are the four of you doing here anyway? I only asked Syaoran to stand in as witness."  
"Curiosity, I suppose," said Eriol with a shrug.  
"Okay." She turned to the three professors to begin her explanation. "This is going to be a combination of a blessing and a protection spell to guard you during the fighting. Three is the maximum that can be made for any battle or they lose their potency."  
From deep within her robes she produced three squares of cloth, each covered in stitches.  
"These," she said, nodding at the cloth, "are senninbari. Each has a thousand stitches, and each stitch represents the best wishes of someone. They will protect you from danger. I shrunk them a bit so they're easier to carry. As long as you keep it with you, you will be protected, but in no means invincible. You will bleed if cut, and respond normally to most curses except for the weakest ones, but you will rarely be subjected to such harm. It's like an extremely powerful good luck charm with bonuses."  
"We just need to keep it on our person?" asked Minerva.  
"Yes," confirmed Tomoyo. She knew all about cloth spells having used many herself.  
"Just stand still and silent as I bless and tune these to you. It's fairly simple," said Sakura cheerfully.  
She stood before Severus.  
"Dark man, loyal to those who serve the Light, one who has returned from the Dark and sacrificed all. Fight for your future."   
Next, she turned to Minerva.  
"Lioness, always ready to do battle for your children, fair to all, easy with none undeserving. Fight to protect your children, o fiery Scottish witch."   
Finally it was Albus' turn.  
"Protector, an anchor, a light in the dark and enemy to the Darkness, as well as a trickster, and unwilling to risk putting true responsibility into clumsy hands. Fight for your world, honored among wizards."  
The fey, otherworldly light that had entered Sakura's eyes at the beginning of her resonating blessings dimmed and she suddenly looked weary and tired.  
She turned to look at everyone in the room.  
"I do this of my own free will with full consent of my heart, mind, body, and soul. Remember."  
Then the fey light fully died and Sakura blinked as if coming out of a trance.  
"What did you mean?" demanded Syaoran, watching her suspiciously.  
"I don't know," she replied, looking away, though she did know, knew only too well. "I don't know," she repeated.  
She stayed only until the three had finished thanking her, and then left for her bedroom.  
Sakura had just passed the Great Hall when she sensed something and her head snapped up. Tomoyo who had been running after her to catch up looked around suspiciously.  
"What is it?" she asked.  
"An intruder," growled Sakura, pulling her sword out of her invisible belt and scabbard. She had taken to carrying it around to get used to it once more. "I smell a rat." With these parting words she summoned the Sword card and with a blade in each hand she sprinted for the dungeons, Tomoyo close behind carrying (what else?), her camera.  
Thankfully most students were still in bed. Sakura almost ran into two early birds, but managed to flip over them, making sure to keep the sharp edges out of the way without setting them down.  
"Didn't anyone tell you it's dangerous to run around with sharp objects?!" cried out one of the two, shocked.  
Tomoyo stifled a giggle as she followed, nimbly sidestepping them.  
Once they reached the dungeons, Sakura slowed to a brisk walk, touching he wall at odd intervals, and keeping her steps silent.  
"Ah ha," she whispered and taking the Sword, she made a broad swing diagonally up and to the right. As the wall collapsed she crossed the two blades and they stuck together, merging where they touched and giving off a soft glow.  
A short balding man, a little chunky with shifty eyes stood there like a deer in headlights.  
"Was that really necessary?" murmured Tomoyo.  
"I'll fix it later," muttered Sakura in reply as she flung that crossed swords at him like a frisbee. The tips sunk into the wall on either side of the man and trapped him in a V shape, the sharp edges a bare inch from his skin.  
"I wouldn't suggest moving, Wormtail," said Sakura coldly, emerald eyes like ice.  
"Translation: Touch the swords and they will slice through you like butter," added Tomoyo.  
"Do you know who I am?" he asked, trying to look intimidating even as he quivered with fear.  
Sakura rolled her eyes. " I called you Wormtail, did I not? Or do you prefer Peter? Perhaps you wish to be known as Voldemort's" - he flinched at the name - " boot licker? The same person who gave you that silver hand that can be just as easily cut through as the rest of your flesh with my blades."  
"You boast overmuch, little girl. You are out of your league here," sneered Wormtail in an effort at bravery, which failed miserably.  
Sakura twitched. "Little girl?" she hissed in a deadly tone. "This little girl could kill you without breaking a sweat. Watch your mouth, traitor."  
Tomoyo was, of course, taping this with interest.  
"Enough," snapped Sakura. "Become the rat you are."  
Wormtail immediately shrank and became the rodent against his will.  
"Mobilicorpus," said Tomoyo, levitating the rat over to where they stood.  
Sakura smiled her thanks and retrieved her swords, returning one to her sheath where it became invisible once more, and the other to its Card form.  
She cocked her head to one side. "Oh good," she said, striding through the hole in the wall. "Remus and 'Snuffles' are with Albus. We can go give them our little present."  
"Ne, Sakura-chan?" called out Tomoyo, her wand still pointed carelessly at Wormtail. "You forgot something."  
She turned to look at her friend blankly, and then, remembering the hole in the wall, blushed. With a wave of her hand it was fixed and she hurried away with Tomoyo skipping along behind.  
They arrived in a room to find that Severus had joined the Headmaster, Remus, and a large black dog. The dog's hackles were raised and it bared its teeth, glaring at the Potions professor, who happened to be glaring back. It was so reminiscent of Syaoran and Touya that Sakura let out a giggle, startling them.  
"Ah, and here come two of them now," greeted Albus, an all too familiar twinkle in his eye. Needless to say, Remus looked stunned, and if a dog could look it, 'Snuffles' would have too.  
"You omitted our ages again, didn't you?" accused Tomoyo as the pair traipsed into the room.  
"And I suppose this amuses you?" questioned Sakura sardonically, turning to look at Severus.  
"Need I answer?" he replied, mouth twitching at the corners.  
Remus looked surprised, and then seeing what was being held by Tomoyo, his surprise became that of intense fury.  
Sakura watched him closely. "I found a rat in the dungeons, and contrary to popular student belief, it wasn't Severus."  
Severus snorted.  
"I'd recognize him anywhere," said Remus quietly in barely checked anger as Sirius' growls became even louder.  
"You may become yourself if you wish, Sirius. Tomoyo warded this room," she informed him, nodding at the humming girl.  
Abruptly the dog became a rather skinny, shaggy-haired man who watched her wearily.  
"How did you know who I was?"  
"It's a gift I have," replied Sakura with a shrug. "Now, down to business. What shall we do with him?" she asked Dumbledore, indicating the rat.  
"I believe I shall take him to the Ministry, show them this bit of evidence, and advise Cornelius on what to do next," he said.  
"But he won't listen to you," interjected Sirius as Remus examined the mutual respect between the girl and the older man with interest, trying to understand who this girl and her friend were exactly.  
"He will now," said Sakura with a knowing grin. "Has been for some time, although it's not that well-known. The wizards will need another Minister soon." She scrutinized Remus thoughtfully, then nodded to herself, as if deciding on something.  
"You sound like you aren't a wizard - witch, I mean," commented Remus.  
"Damn," he heard her murmur under her breath. They were obviously not meant to hear it, and it made him suspicious, though Dumbledore trusted her.  
This is gonna make things a bit harder to hide, but it's only for a couple of days, though Sakura as she replied, "I'm not. I'm a sorceress born and bred. Actually that's not exactly true. I've only been training for about half of my life. I was studying the druid's ways, especially ogham, when Albus informed me of your world's plight. I'll be forever grateful to him for saving me from the lessons, even if it's only for a year or so. Ogham is definitely not one of my best subjects."  
Remus couldn't help but laugh, and Sirius with him, at such a perky young girl.  
They chatted easily for a few minutes as Albus took his leave.  
"Hello," said a voice from the doorway only moments after the Headmaster had departed.  
Sirius looked up warily, but Tomoyo and Sakura grinned. "Hello, Eriol," they chorused.  
"Remus, Sirius, this is Eriol. He's the Defense Against the Dark Arts professor," introduced Tomoyo politely.  
Sakura turned to Remus, abruptly serious as she stood up. "May I speak with you for a moment?" she asked, motioning for him to follow.  
He hesitated for a moment, glancing at Severus and Sirius, who happened to be in a glaring contest at the moment, wondering if it was safe to leave those two alone.  
"Don't worry," reassured Sakura with a grin, as if reading his thoughts. "Tomoyo will stay until we return to keep those two from killing each other."  
The two men in question looked up, mildly affronted, before resuming their glaring.  
Somewhat reassured, he followed her, with Eriol bringing up the rear.  
"I should go find Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun. They're not the most trustworthy beings when together," said Eriol, pausing at the door to watch Sakura and the werewolf leave, the man puzzling over this rather cryptic comment.  
Yes, he liked to confuse and frustrate, possibly even annoy any acquaintances. Which reminded him.  
"Don't break the bed!" he called out to Severus and Sirius before hurrying away.  
The two shared very amusing identical looks of horror before Severus leapt for the door.  
"First I'm a pedophile, and now I'm gay! Make up your damn filthy mind!" he roared.  
The only response was for words to appear on the front of his robe. Very afraid of what they said, but not wanting Black, or anyone else for that matter, to see them, he read:  
'PEDOPHILE: Go on, I'm not choosy.'  
"You have one dirty, filthy little mind!" he muttered murderously, as the words hastily disappeared.  
Remus followed Sakura down an empty hall. Suddenly she turned to him, eyes serious.  
"You know that the wizarding world needs a new Minister of Magic?" she questioned.  
"You told us that in the old Charms classroom," Remus affirmed.  
"And you agree that this time it should be someone competent, who isn't afraid to ask for help when he needs, and who can think for himself?"  
"Of course. It sounds like you have someone in mind."  
"I do, and Albus agrees with me," replied Sakura with a secretive smile, eyes sparkling with laughter.  
"Who is it?" asked Remus, curious.  
Sakura just grinned at him.  
"You're joking!" exclaimed Remus as it dawned on him. "I'm a werewolf. They'd never accept me," he said in a bitter tone.  
Sakura cocked her head to one side, studying him. "I could make them, but there's an easier way. I could take away the curse and leave in its place a gift. Eriol can alter the memories of all but those who support you and Tomoyo will take care of any files. It will be as if you had never been a werewolf."  
"But there's no cure for lycanthropy," he protested. "Who are you?"  
"I cannot cure your condition, but I can alter it, change it, if you will. You will not be a wolf involuntarily. You will be more of a wolf Animagus, but you must become a wolf at least three times a month at any time. A gift, as I said. And who am I? I am only Kinomoto Sakura, nothing more or less than myself. That you will find out in two days' time when Voldemort and his army arrives. Go well. I'll try to give you the alteration spell before the actual fighting, but rest assured, you will get it."  
She gave him a quick hug before teleporting herself to where the giants were hidden. Hagrid and Madam Maxime had arrived the day before with some reinforcements.  
"Oh, Syaoran," murmured Sakura late that night. "I know I've been trained for battles such as this, but I don't know if I can stand to do it, to kill those people, no matter how evil they are."  
Syaoran wrapped his arms around her and she rested her head against his chest, only slightly comforted.  
"I'm sorry, Sakura. Sorry it had to be this way. You've never killed before, have you?"  
She looked at him. What kind of question is that? her face said. Of course I haven't.  
"You've always aimed to capture, convert, or change whoever or whatever opposed you," he continued. "Even with all of you training and experience I can't imagine you as a fighter."  
He kissed her.  
"And I feel so useless being unable to help you."  
"You're never useless to me, Syaoran," replied Sakura. "I wish it didn't have to be this way."  
"You have a choice," he reminded her. "You can still stay out of it."  
Sakura shook her head. "That's no choice at all. I promised to help when they refused to ask for it, not thinking that I would want to help, and not wishing to ruin my supposed innocence. I've grown up. I've grown beyond my years since I let the Cards loose, and I can hide it, but you and I, Meiling and Eriol and Tomoyo, all of us know that it's there because it's in all of you as well. Some have yet to learn that what affects one world affects the rest."  
They clung to one another, as if the other was their only anchor in the ocean of chaos.  
"They can't do it so well without us. They'll be slaughtered before the Dark Lord falls and Harry would loose so much more than his family. It always comes down to him in this wizarding world, doesn't it? A boy against 'evil incarnate' as the newspapers like to call Voldemort."  
Their lips met once more, lingeringly, as tears streamed helplessly down the Card Mistress' cheeks.  
"Aishiteru, Li Syaoran," she whispered between kisses. "Aishiteru."


	11. And Dream Became Wings

"Is it just me, or do the professors seem a little tense?" whispered Hermione to Harry, Ron, and Draco.  
"Whatever do you mean?" questioned Draco sarcastically as the four of them watched Neville break down at sword point. He had dropped an empty potions bottle in the hallway on the way to breakfast, and the crash of broken glass had caused Professor Li to whirl around violently, sword out. Where he had kept it was still a mystery.  
"Sorry," muttered the professor as he sheathed his sword and headed toward the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom.  
"You three go ahead. I want to ask him something," said Hermione, turning to follow Li.  
"Oh, no," protested Ron. "We're not going to let you get skewered alone."  
Draco and Harry nodded in agreement, somewhat less than enthusiastic.  
"Fine," sighed Hermione. "Just hurry up."  
The group entered the classroom only moments after Professor Li had and stopped short. Professor Kinomoto - sweet, kind, quiet, somewhat dense Professor Kinomoto - was sitting there with a large sword and a bow leaning against the desk next to her and a pile of arrows at her feet. One arrow was in her lap and she seemed to be casting a spell on the arrowhead as she fingered the edge. Professor Hiiragizawa was nowhere to be seen, even though it was his classroom.  
"Oh, hello," said Sakura cheerfully, looking up from her work.  
Syaoran merely grunted.  
"Um...w-well...we w-w-were just," stuttered Hermione.  
"Uh uh," cut in Draco, hands up in protest. "Leave us out of this."  
"What's going on? All of the professors seem edgy and now you have all of these...these...weapons," said Hermione.  
The two professors exchanged glances. With a small sigh, Professor Kinomoto turned to them. "I sure hope you studied your spells."  
"Of course," replied Hermione. "We have OWLs after all."  
She shook her head. "You don't, although I wish you did, that that was all you have to worry about."  
"OWLs are canceled?" Ron looked like Christmas had come early.  
"Yes."  
"Why?" Hermione looked almost crestfallen.  
The professors exchanged glances once again.  
"War has come to Hogwarts. If all goes well, none of the students and very few of the professors will fight. A volunteer army has been training here for months," Sakura informed them solemnly.  
They paled. War - at Hogwarts? But Dumbledore was the only wizard You-Know-Who was afraid of and Harry had already defeated him numerous times. Plus, they had these powerful young teachers. What sense did it make to choose to fight on Hogwarts' ground?  
They were about to express their confusion when Professor Dumbledore appeared in the doorway. He smiled somewhat vaguely at the students before turning to Sakura and Syaoran after glancing quickly over his shoulder.  
A door appeared on the far side of the room. "Take a left and it's the fourth door on the right. Severus and Minerva are already there," informed Sakura, quick to understand what was happening.  
He thanked them and hurried away.  
"What?" asked Harry, totally at loss.  
"Professor Daidouji has been a bit obsessed with the Lord of the Rings," said Sakura.  
Draco and Ron had no idea what she was talking about, but pretended they did, as Hermione and Harry nodded in comprehension.  
"She likes dressing people up in costumes for any type of battle, or for no reason at all," continued Sakura.  
"Two Galleons that she was trying to braid his beard like the dwarf's," betted Professor Li.  
"Gimli," murmured Hermione as Sakura replied, "You're on."  
"But what did that have to do with the door?" asked Harry.  
"Well, Mr. Potter," she said with a smile. "We warded a room for anyone who wanted to escape Professor Daidouji. We, of course," she said, gesturing to both herself and Syaoran, "can't avoid her." She looked vaguely disappointed. "She's been doing this since before I began capturing - er, I mean, since before I was nine." Professor Kinomoto finished nervously.  
Syaoran snorted. "Professor Daidouji wanted to give Professor McGonagall elf ears and an elven style dress, as well as letting her hair down out of her bun. It doesn't matter that she won't be on the battle field; manning the fort's a good enough reason for Daidouji. Professor Snape...what was going to happen to him?" he asked Sakura.  
"He was going to get a helmet and gauntlets. They were quite pretty, actually."  
"Probably why he ran for it," suggested Professor Li.  
Meanwhile, Hermione was staring at Professor Kinomoto's elegant sword. It seemed familiar, as if she'd seen it somewhere before.  
Sakura noticed her staring at the blade and picked it up. "I've never much taken to a sword, not like to a bow and arrow," she commented. "A sword does have its advantages, however. Though I hate to admit it, it's better at channeling magic than an arrow is. And if this wasn't so light I wouldn't be able to do half of the little tricks I know."  
"Alleivuyae!" exclaimed Hermione, finally recalling the illustration she had seen in one of the many old, dusty books she had read. "The third most powerful blade in the world next to Excalibur and the Sword of the Elements. How did you get it?"  
"Through another test. I couldn't refuse lessons from Professor Li after I received it," replied Sakura with a scowl. "His is the Sword of the Elements by the way."  
Syaoran glared at her as the four stared at them in awe.  
"They weren't supposed to know that," he complained.  
"They weren't supposed to know a whole bunch of things, and they do," retorted Sakura.  
Just then Professor Daidouji appeared in the doorway. "Oh, Sakura-chaaaaaaan," she called in a sing song voice. "I have the perfect costume for youuuuuu."  
"Um...shouldn't we do that later, like after dinner?" questioned Sakura as Syaoran mouthed, 'Run, run for your lives!' behind the Muggle Studies' professor's back.  
The four inched their way out the door, watching the professors warily, before bolting into the hallway.  
"They're not serious about a war, are they?" asked Ron nervously.  
"They sure looked it," replied Harry grimly.  
"Don't say a word about it to anyone," warned Hermione, looking each boy in the eye. "They're planning something and a panic definitely won't help the situation."  
"Yes, Miss Know-It-All," drawled Draco, but without his usual mocking tone. All of them were worried.  
The fifth years all cheered at the news of the canceled OWLs and the fact that final exams were canceled as well was an added bonus. No one asked why.  
Dinner soon arrived and a bleak mood settled on the castle for no apparent reason. As everyone settled down to eat the chime of a glass rang out through the Great Hall and Dumbledore stood to make his announcement.  
"All students will please go straight to their dormitories after dinner and gather up whatever you feel is needed to amuse yourselves for several hours. Then come right back here. Any dawdling or horse playing will result in severe penalties. Do not forget your wands. That is all."  
For several moments there were only hushed conversations before the noise built up to its usual volume. Something was definitely happening.  
"I hope this was the right choice," murmured Tomoyo glumly.  
"The war or to gather everyone in one place?" questioned Eriol.  
"To gather all the students here. If there is even one little fluke they could all be injured or worse. The Death Eaters would have a field day."  
"We've been over this before," said Meiling kindly. "We'll have professors guarding every entrance to this room and four of us will be supporting a shield. Splitting them up into dormitories gives them more of a chance of slipping out or hiding when we need them together. Besides, their four Houses are so far apart from each other that you'll need to Floo to them if you want to get there quickly."  
"Remember, there's safety in numbers," added Eriol.  
"I hope we're right," sighed Tomoyo as she toyed with her food, staring into space.  
"Come on, Tomoyo," said Sakura when the Great Hall was less crowded. "You had a costume for me, remember?"  
"Of course I do!" exclaimed Tomoyo, at once starry-eyed and enthusiastic. She immediately jumped to her feet and practically dragged Sakura out the door and to their rooms.  
"Touya and Otousan are upstairs!" Sakura managed to inform the group before she was out of hearing range.  
The laughs at the display were somewhat strained. No one noticed Nakuru slip outside as well.  
The hallways were dimly lit. A shadow flitted noiselessly from hiding spot to hiding spot, stalking the man.  
The stalker's aura was carefully hidden and the form allowed a small smirk to appear, the barest twitch of the lips.  
This was too easy.  
The shadowed form glanced around with both regular and magical sight. No witnesses, no booby traps. The perfect moment.  
She leapt from her hiding place onto the man's back, causing him to stumble forward. He barely kept himself from falling flat on his face.  
"TOOOUUUUYYYYYYAAAAAAAA!!" shrieked Nakuru happily, glomping him to her heart's content.  
He had a surprisingly girly scream, she reflected afterward.  
"SIT!" he bellowed, forgetting one little thing. Nakuru had latched onto his back, which would therefore bring him down as well.  
She lay on top of him happily, very much content. Master Eriol's sneaky, underhanded method does work, she thought to herself.  
Touya grimaced, trapped beneath her for far too long for his liking.  
Nakuru didn't bother to get up once the command had worn off and it took Touya several minutes to realize this.  
Sakura looked at her new costume.  
"Lord of the Rings, ne?" she commented.  
"I figured this would be best for this battle," replied Tomoyo. "Take off your clothes."  
"The door had better be locked," threatened Sakura as she obeyed. She couldn't grudge Tomoyo the little happiness this gave her. Merlin knew there wouldn't be much to laugh about for a long time to come. Sakura blinked. I've been among wizards and witches for far too long, she thought wryly, realizing she'd used their most popular curse.  
Tomoyo proudly held up a chain mail vest after wrestling a plain white shirt and dark slacks onto her friend. "It's as light and strong as I could make it. It'll turn any weapon away, magicked or not, but it won't work with spells. I didn't want a helpful or healing spell to slide off when you need it," she explained anxiously.  
"It's beautiful," murmured Sakura, gently fingering the delicate, shimmering metal.  
After getting the chain mail onto Sakura, Tomoyo threw an intricately embroidered dark green tunic over it. Next, she presented a cloak, the color of the Forbidden Forest canopy at midnight.  
"This will make people overlook you when you use it. I figured the costume should be dark so you can hide when you need to without fear of any bright color being seen."  
"Good idea," praised Sakura with a smile. "Everything is gorgeous and easy to move in. Including the boots," she added, looking down at the brown footwear.  
Tomoyo hugged her tightly. "Be careful," she whispered to her cousin.  
Sakura was strongly reminded that they were only 16 and preparing to go to war with an army bent on destruction.  
"You too," Sakura replied sadly.  
There was a knock on the door and then Eriol, Syaoran, and Meiling trooped in, all wearing their ceremonial robes.  
"Ready?" asked Syaoran softly.  
Sakura nodded. "We need two more people to hold the shield over the school. Otousan and Oniichan came here for that reason and I want Tomoyo and Meiling to be those two shielders. Do you know your places?"  
Tomoyo and Meiling nodded.  
"Good. Has Remus returned?" Sakura had been asking for him all day, wanting to give him his spell, but he had been out practicing and doing maneuvers.  
Meiling shook her head. "Some volunteers are getting jittery and he's helping to keep them calm. We only have about-" she glanced at the clock, "-an hour until Voldemort gets here. I think he'll just stay and go out with them then."  
Sakura sighed, disappointed, and stood, sending the bauble containing the werewolf's spell up to his bedroom dresser. "I need to talk with Minerva. See you later."  
The silence after she left was strained and unusual.  
Sakura glanced in the Great Hall and noted with some satisfaction that all was going well. There was no panic, though that was probably because only Harry, Ron, Hermione, and Draco knew what was going on. She didn't bother to check for any missing students, knowing that the professors, including her own group, had already done so.  
She continued on to the room adjacent the Great Hall and walked in. Minerva was staring into space with a worried frown and jumped when Sakura entered.  
"You're sure you want to watch?" asked Sakura quietly.  
"If I'm to protect the school I need to know what's happening outside," replied the professor stubbornly.  
"It definitely won't be pretty. And others will probably want to see what's happening to friends or family members as well."  
"Grindelwald wasn't pretty either," said Minerva, shuddering at the memories of war. "No battle is."  
"Ron, Draco, and Hermione will want to see what's happening to Harry."  
"And why would Harry be outside?"  
"You'll see," replied Sakura sadly. "I don't like it either, but it must be done this way."  
Minerva sighed. It seemed that all she had gotten from these professors were secrets and mysteries. Granted, they were good teachers, especially Eriol Hiiragizawa. He had said that they saved their best person for Defense Against the Dark Arts, since they would be needing that skill more than any other this year, if worse came to worse.  
Sakura studied her for a moment. "As you wish," she said finally, and drew Mirror and Twin from the belt Eriol had given her for Christmas.  
She took out her 'wand' and twirled it deftly, spinning it into the air. A bright light flared and when she caught the wand it became her staff.  
"Mirror!" she cried, tossing the card into the air and striking it. Immediately a mirror appeared in front of her, hovering at chest level.  
Minerva watched with interest. Sakura didn't use her cards much and this was the first time she had done it in front of Minerva.  
"Twin!" Sakura called and suddenly there were two identical mirrors, each rounded with Chinese characters along the frame.  
The cards returned to Sakura's belt and the staff shrank into the key. She wouldn't be needing a witch's wand anytime soon.  
Finished with her cleanup, she turned to the Transfigurations professor. "You will be able to see wherever traces of my magic linger," she explained, "which should be almost everywhere. Just say the name of the person or place you want to see and they'll show it to you. I made two in case you want to see two different places, or in case any visitor wants to check on someone else. What they won't show you is the layout of the armies and the grounds from a map or bird's eye view. We'll need something different for that. I'll be right back."  
She walked into the Great Hall and scanned the Gryffindor table. "Ah," she said to herself and her long legged stride brought her quickly to where Harry and Hermione watched Ron cream Draco at wizards' chess.  
"Harry, come with me, please?" she requested.  
"Watch his bishop," she told Draco as Harry followed her out of the Great Hall. Sakura nodded to Professor Flitwick as they passed him by.  
"You have your Marauder's Map in your trunk, yes?" she said once they were outside.  
"How did you know?" asked Harry, positive he'd never taken it out near her.  
"It's a secret," she said with a smile. "Could you bring it to me? Quickly. I'll be in there." Sakura gestured toward the room where Professor McGonagall was waiting.  
He raced to the Gryffindor tower as Sakura returned to her colleague's side. "I had Harry get the Marauder's Map. It shows anyone on Hogwarts' grounds."  
"How did he get it?" asked Minerva, curious.  
"His dad, Remus, Sirius, and Peter made it. The Weasley twins somehow got hold of it and gave it to Harry in his third year."  
"And he's put it to good use, I expect?" commented Minerva, her mouth in a thin line of disapproval.  
Sakura just grinned.  
Harry soon returned with the map and crashed through the door, panting. "I've got-" he began and paused, embarrassed when he realized that his Head of House was there as well. "Er...hello Professor McGonagall."  
"Hello Potter," she replied.  
Sakura set the parchment on the desk next to the two mirrors and then looked up at Harry.  
"Would you like to do the honors?" she asked gallantly.  
Harry shrugged and brought out his wand. "I solemnly swear I'm up to no good," he intoned and tapped the paper.  
Sakura watched Minerva out of the corner of her eye and saw her mouth twitch at the password. "Typical," murmured the Transfigurations Professor.  
"You can use this to warn you of any intruders or if the army is about to storm the school itself," explained Sakura.  
Minerva raised an eyebrow and looked in Harry's direction.  
"He already knows about this," said Sakura.  
"Of course," replied Minerva dryly. "He usually does."  
Harry could feel himself turn red.  
Sakura turned to him with her usual cheerful smile. "Why don't you see if Draco's still in the game. He needs all the help he can get against Ron."  
Harry grinned in return. "He's even worse than I was. And I'm not going to let him forget it," he informed her as he left the room.  
Minerva laughed. "Who would have thought that those three would add Draco to their number?"  
Suddenly something scaled, snake-like, and shimmering white in color appeared on Sakura's shoulder with a small pop and the girl shrieked.  
"That's a nice way to greet a friend," it said dryly as Minerva stared.  
"Is that a Chinese dragon?" asked Minerva. They were rare and very little was known about them aside from what was in legends.  
"This is Kazemusuko. Son of the Wind," she introduced, translating his name into English. She glared at him. "You could have warned me." Sakura winced as he shifted and his small claws gripped her shoulder and fidgeted as his whiskers tickled her face.  
"Where's the surprise in that?" he asked.  
"Well, since you're here, you can make yourself useful."  
"You know I'm not supposed to interfere with mortal lives."  
"But you're not," Sakura protested, a glint of amusement in her eyes. "You're just helping your friend out, healing a few people she likes, that sort of thing."  
Kazemusuko gave a dry cough that Minerva realized was his laugh. "Of course."  
He slithered down her body and Sakura winced once more as his needle sharp talons pricked her skin.  
"Why couldn't you just fly down to the ground?" she demanded irritably.  
Minerva noted with interest that the dragon had no wings and wondered how he was able to fly.  
"Come," Kazemusuko said imperiously.  
Sakura followed, muttering under her breath as she went to introduce Poppy Pomfrey's new assistant to her.  
About half an hour later the army was tense and ready for their confrontation. Sakura was at a window with her bow and a quiver of arrows waiting for Voldemort and his army to appear. The rest of her group sat waiting for her signal and the students in the Great Hall were unusually quiet, most of them trying not to panic as they learned the cause of the tension.  
Suddenly a whole crowd of figures in black appeared, each still and quiet, sure that they would catch Hogwarts unawares. The majority waited in front while a smaller group appeared behind the school, all waiting for their master's signal. Before he could give it, a single arrow flew from a tower window, landing point first in the dirt at Voldemort's feet, catching them all by surprise.  
Immediately after, a girl appeared, standing face to face with Voldemort, the most feared wizard of his time.  
"Good evening, Dark Lord," she said with a mocking bow.  
"Do you know who I am, little girl? You are lucky I am in a good mood tonight or you would be dead by now," he hissed, red eyes flashing.  
"I doubt that very much, Voldemort," replied Sakura with a sneer. "I believe it is you who has forgotten me."  
One Death Eater could take her insolence no more. "Aveda Kedavra."  
Green light flared and died down. There were gasps and murmurs from both the Light and Dark sides when they realized that she stood before them, alive and well toying with the Killing Spell she had caught with her bare hands.  
"I don't suppose," she said almost absently, "that you remember the little girl whose power was only half trained? I don't suppose you remember that you thought she would be an easy opponent? I don't suppose you remember the 53 cards you challenged her for? And you wouldn't understand that whether you defeated me or not, the cards would never go to you."  
Her eyes flashed dangerously as Voldemort narrowed his eyes in recognition.  
"We have all trained and grown into our power," she continued as 10 figures appeared behind her. "We are more than a match for you."  
The muttering in both armies grew louder. Who were they? What were they?  
"So Cardmistress, you knew I would come?"  
Sakura nodded in acknowledgment as whispers traveled among the soldiers. Cardmistress, the most powerful sorceress in the world explained each person to his neighbor. "I encouraged you. It was not hard with all of the anger and hate you have for Hogwarts, its Headmaster, and Harry Potter."  
"And you would fight me?" Sakura could see the fear he tried to suppress.  
"Not I," she replied. "You should know that."  
Turning to face the school she chanted, "Harry Potter, I summon thee. Child of light, I summon thee. Hope of his world, I summon thee."  
Harry appeared, looking surprised and horrified as he realized where he was.  
"Harry," murmured Sakura sadly. "I'm sorry, but this is your geas, your fate."  
Voldemort looked more relaxed, and took on his usual arrogant air. "I will duel him?"  
"Yes," replied Sakura. "No on shall help or hinder either of you. In addition none of you will be able to use the Killing Curse." She tossed the one she held up into the air.  
Remember what I taught you, said a voice in Harry's head and he looked up, startled. It was the voice from his dreams. It was Sakura.  
Looking back at Voldemort, the fear once more coursed through his veins. He'd gotten lucky before, but he would need skill, not luck, to get out of this alive.  
Get into your places, she sent to Tomoyo, Meiling, Touya, and her father.  
The four of them disappeared and reappeared outside of Hogwarts, each standing in a cardinal direction.  
The Dark army fidgeted, wanting to destroy and kill.  
Sakura took her staff and brought out Firey. Stepping back she called upon the card and a large circle of flames appeared around Harry and Voldemort. "The flames will keep any who think to help them out," called out Sakura.  
Next, she took out the other three element cards and tossed them into the air striking them with her staff. "Guard your charges!" she called, gesturing to the four who were preparing to set up the shield.  
Albus Dumbledore tensed at the head of his group, waiting for her signal.  
"So be it. The second war begins!"  
As if released from a spell the two armies charged and Touya, Tomoyo, Meiling, and Fujitaka threw up their shield like a blanket over the school.  
"Wind spirits of the east, I call upon you for protection!" called out Touya, a brisk wind circling his body.  
"Earth spirits of the south, I call upon you for protection," chanted Fujitaka and a quaking in the earth under him answered.  
"Water spirits of the west, I call upon you for protection," intoned Tomoyo and a small stream of water from the lake wound its way toward her in reply. Three quarters of the school glowed dimly.  
"Fire spirits of the north, I call upon you for protection," said Meiling and flames appeared, clinging to her harmlessly as the shield flashed, and then stabilized.  
All around them battle cries and shouts of the wounded sounded.


	12. How Much Time Would We Have

Belinda: "Ay, but you know we must return good for evil."  
Lady Brute: "That may be a mistake in the translation."  
-John Vanbrugh  
As soon as the two armies clashed Sakura teleported away to the edge of the Forbidden Forest. She settled herself into the crook of a branch as quickly as possible, making sure that nothing would get in the way of her arrows' flight, nor the draw.  
She deftly nocked an arrow and secured herself before aiming for the nearest Dementor and letting it fly. It struck the specter squarely in the back and it let out a shriek of pain as the robes collapsed.  
A quick scan of the field told her that there were about 18 Dementors left and only 11 of her specially prepared arrows remained. A Patronus would drive them off once she had cut down their numbers, Sakura decided. There were plenty of wizards who could do it. Hopefully the overwhelming fear of the battlefield wouldn't stop their army.  
Dementors. Little Demons. Not little in size, but in power. Those idiots in the Ministry had no idea what sort of creature they were dealing with.  
In moments her arrows were spent, only one missing its mark when the wind blew a small branch in the way. It hit an enemy Red Cap instead, which Sakura thought was rather lucky.  
Got to fight another fight  
I gotta run another night  
Get it out  
Check it out  
I'm on my way and it don't feel right  
The moment she stepped onto the battle field wet with blood, sword drawn, she felt her insides clench and feared she would be sick.  
No, she thought fiercely. The moment I show weakness they'll swarm me. She took a deep breath and found her center of calm. Then she charged into the chaos of moving bodies, more concerned with protecting the volunteers than with killing the opposing army outright.  
Again and again she thrust and parried, using the Shield often for herself or others. She rarely saw Eriol and Syaoran, and the guardians had taken to the air.  
I gotta get me back  
I can't be beat and that's a fact  
It's OK  
I'll find a way  
The moment Harry disappeared Hermione and Ron jumped back with muffled yells.  
"He gave me the Invisibility Cloak before he left with Professor Kinomoto," Ron was saying anxiously as Hermione waved her hands in the empty air where Harry had been sitting.  
"Where is it?" she asked, turning to him abruptly.  
He motioned to a bulge in his robes where he had been keeping his arms crossed.  
Hermione glanced around, and seeing no one watching them, she muttered, "Give it here."  
"Hermione, you're scaring me again," said Ron as he extricated the Cloak.  
She ignored him and had him crouch down until they were partially hidden before flinging the Invisibility Cloak over the two of them.  
Draco was going to kill them when he found out, but he was on the other side of the Great Hall and Hermione felt that they needed to go quickly.  
They made their way around the edge of the Great Hall silently, almost tripping over several people who were ignorant to their progress.  
The two of them barely managed to slip past Professor Sinistra and Professor Sprout, both of whom were guarding the main doors. Relieved and sure they were safe from detection, the two made their way to the entrance hall.  
Minerva was carefully watching the mirrors and checking the Marauder's Map every once in a while.  
Clever invention, that, she thought absently as she glanced at it, before narrowing her eyes as she saw two dots leave the Great Hall. They were labeled Hermione Granger and Ronald Weasley.  
With a scowl she got up and quickly hurried to the entrance hall, map in hands. When it appeared empty she was extremely perplexed and checked the map again. It showed that they were to the right of the doors, but she could see no one.  
"Mr. Weasley and Miss Granger," she said sternly, feeling slightly ridiculous, but refusing to show it.  
"How did - " came a muttered voice, and then a muffled "oof!" It sounded as though Hermione had tried to keep Ron quiet with her elbow.  
"Thanks a lot, Ron," hissed Hermione under her breath as she removed the Invisibility Cloak.  
"Er, hello Professor," greeted Ron, looking redder than usual.  
"What are you doing here?" demanded Professor McGonagall. "And where did you get that Invisibility Cloak?"  
"It's Harry's," replied Ron. Both students wore extremely guilty expressions.  
"You haven't answered my first question."  
"We...well...Harry vanished and we wanted to find him and make sure he was all right, so...Is that Harry's map?" said Hermione. "Where is he?"  
You ain't gonna take me down no way  
"Mister Potter is currently outside battling the Dark Lord." Her mouth was extremely thin at this, which didn't mask her worried expression.  
Hermione and Ron gasped. "But how did he get out there? And why?"  
Professor McGonagall examined them for a moment before sighing and gesturing for them to follow her before leading them into the room she was using to watch the fighting.  
Hermione and Ron looked curiously at the small, cloudy crystal ball and two mirrors which had cleared themselves of whatever images they had held.  
"Harry Potter," said their Head of House clearly, and tapped one of the mirrors with her wand. Immediately an image appeared and Ron and Hermione gathered around to look.  
"They're trapped," said Hermione in a panicky voice. "Harry's going to get burnt, he doesn't how to make the flames harmless."  
But Professor McGonagall was shaking her head. "He won't. Sakura Kinomoto made sure of that when she summoned the flames to keep out any who would try to help them."  
"But why?" asked Ron, face pale, as Hermione wrung her hands.  
Don't judge a thing until you know what's inside it  
Dont push me  
I'll fight it  
"She said it was to keep anyone from helping," replied their professor grimly.  
"But why?!" echoed Hermione. "She's on our side, isn't she? I tried to look up more on sorcerers but all of the books with that kind of information disappeared from the library."  
"Well, they did do things properly, didn't they?" Minerva murmured to herself. Then she sighed. "I suppose you can know now, since everyone out there," she gestured at the mirrors, "just found out. She's the Cardmistress, Saoran Li and Meiling Li are members of the Li clan in China, Eriol Hiiragizawa and Sakura's father, Fujitaka Kinomoto, are both half reincarnations of Clow Reed, Yue and Keroberos are the original guardians of the former Clow, now Sakura cards, Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun are new guardians Professor Hiiragizawa created...what else...Tomoyo Daidouji is daughter of Sonomi Daidouji, owner of one of the largest Muggle toy companies in the world. As to your original question," she continued, fighting to keep a straight face as her two students stared at her, agape, "she said it was the only way to defeat You-Know-Who."  
She stiffened suddenly as she glanced at the map and tapped the crystal rather harder than necessary. It immediately cleared, looking more like glass than crystal. "A group of dementors and trolls are circling around to the back of the school," she said tersely.  
The two fifth years jumped when Syaoran Li's voice spoke through the crystal. "Right. We weren't counting on dementors and it'll be a while before Tonks' group can get there. The shield," there was a bloodcurdling scream that almost drowned out his words, "should let through Patronuses. If there are any people at all who can do one, gather them at the edge of the shield and have them cast the spell."  
The three in the room looked paler than usual. Metal clashing against metal and flesh was heard clearly as were incantations and screams.  
Syaoran swore violently. "One of the Aurors is down. I've just sent him to the Hospital Wing. Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun are patrolling and sending the wounded there. You might want to find help for Poppy among the students and professors."  
The ball grew cloudy once more as Syaoran ended their communication.  
Never gonna give in  
Never gonna give it up no  
"You two find students who are willing to help in the Hospital Wing. I'm counting on you to send only those who won't be a bother, and who will follow instructions," ordered McGonagall.  
The two practically sprinted out of the room, faces grim, as Minerva followed on their heels. When a quick glance around the room did not show her the man she was looking for, she beckoned Hannah Hooch over.  
"Where's Severus?" she demanded as soon as the woman joined her.  
"I haven't seen him," Hannah replied.  
"Then you make the announcement. Find anyone who can make a Patronus and have them gather with me here. Dementors are coming at the back of the school and we need to drive them off. Trolls are with them, but the shield should keep them out until a group arrives to deal with them. While we're gone reassure the rest of the students and the staff. You might as well tell them about Sakura and their group since everyone outside knows. Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley are recruiting students to help in the Hospital Wing. Make sure they can get down there without being challenged."  
Hannah nodded and made her way to the High Table.  
"Sonorus," she murmured. "Attention." Her voice boomed throughout the hall and the nervous chatting stopped immediately. "Will all who can conjure a Patronus please gather to Professor McGonagall by the main doors."  
Minerva was surprised at the number of people who could do it, though the group was relatively small. Four seventh years and Professors Flitwick and Vector joined her.  
"Follow me," she told them as Hannah continued on to reassure the school and led them to the back of the school, wands drawn.  
"A group of dementors and trolls are coming," she informed them. "Wizards are coming to battle the trolls, so it's our job to get rid of the dementors."  
You can't take me I'm free  
As she spoke the coldness familiar to the presence of dementors descended upon the group. The dementors soon came into view and the shield around the school trembled as Tomoyo, who was closest, felt the effects of their presence.  
"Expecto Patronum!"  
It was as if the trembling of the shield was a signal, for the seven of them cried it out as one.  
Four silvery whisps appeared on the other side of the shield, each vaguely resembling an animal, not quite corporeal, led by a hawk, a wolf, and a lioness.  
The dementors hesitated as the Patronuses charged and then glided quickly back into the forest. Several were sent tumbling by the corporeal Patronuses before they disappeared.  
Why did it all go wrong?  
I wanna know what's goin' on  
Minerva leaned heavily against the walls of Hogwarts as two students near collapsed. She always forgot how exhausting producing a Patronus was.  
The trolls stared around stupidly, perhaps confused by the retreat of the dementors. Of course, almost anything confused them, so it was difficult to tell.  
"Well done," praised Minerva as the students watched the trolls nervously, not quite trusting the shield before they saw it work. "We should go inside now."  
"Have you seen Severus?" she asked her two colleagues quietly as they trooped inside.  
"I don't believe I've seen him since the students were told to stay in the Great Hall," replied Professor Flitwick thoughtfully.  
"I haven't either," said Professor Vector.  
Minerva frowned, concerned. She would have to check the Marauder's Map once she reached the Scrying Room, as she called it.  
And what's this holding me?  
I'm not where I'm supposed to be  
"Hello Potter. It's been a while." Voldemort was grinning at him cruelly, wand held carelessly in his hand.  
Harry was clutching his, mind racing.  
"No one to save you now, and your pathetic Mudblood mother's sacrifice is useless."  
Harry felt his blood boiling and moved before thinking.  
"Expelliarmus!"  
It hit a Shield Charm as Voldemort's grin widened. "Doesn't that spell get boring, Potter? Try something new. Like Crucio!"  
Harry managed to set up a shield at the last second, one that Sakura had taught him as he dreamt. It conserved energy by using only the amount of power needed to counteract the spell.  
I gotta fight another fight  
I gotta fight with all my might  
I'm getting out, so check it out  
Voldemort's grin vanished when his curse disappeared. He fixed his gaze on Harry, red eyes boring into green. "You've stood in my way too long and now your luck has run out. No one will rescue you. You'll die by my wand."  
Unaware of what he was doing, Harry took one step forward, and then another. The only thing he could see were those glowing red eyes. They filled his vision and his mind.  
A tiny voice in the back of his mind was whispering. "Fightfightfighfight."  
His eyes were watering and with tremendous effort he blinked. The connection was broken and as soon as Voldemort realized this he shouted, "Diffindo!"  
Harry barely managed to dive to the side in time. He felt the passage of the Cutting Curse bare centimeters above his head.  
The true battle was on and Harry threw every hex, jinx, and curse he knew, as well as the concentrated beam of power that grazed Voldemort's side drawing blood. Harry was drenched in sweat and his cuts were bleeding heavily. He was often forced to put up the shield Sakura had taught him when Voldemort sent a particularly powerful spell in his direction. His determination never wavered, but Voldemort seemed to have the upper hand and was keeping it. Several times he was thrown back by blasts that just barely missed him. One curse he was unfamiliar with caught him in the chest and at least three ribs felt broken.  
He grew desperate as his vision darkened. The pain was almost overwhelming.  
Sakura fought in the mass of bodies, shooting spell after spell, blocking what came her way with Shield and sword, trying to ignore the sickening feeling of her blade sliding through flesh and bone.  
Ya  
You're in my way  
So you better watch out  
She tried as hard as she could to defend those on her side, but too often she was engaged in combat while one of their wizards or witches fell.  
Mundungus Fletcher - beheaded.  
Percy Weasley - dead from blood loss when his leg was severed and back cut open with a Severing Charm. That one especially wrenched Sakura's heart. She had grown extremely fond of the Weasley family.  
Malorie Finnigan and Janet Foster - died defending Remus Lupin, who had been down with both legs broken. Ruby Moon had transported the former professor to the Hosital Wing right after, lamenting that she couldn't have gotten there in time to keep the two witches alive.  
Aaron Zimmer - tortured to death before Moody was able to reach him.  
The list seemed to go on and on, and for all she knew, many more could have died from their injuries in the Hospital Wing.  
Twice as determined, she ignored the soreness in her arm and her ragged breathing as she pushed on.  
Once she found herself fighting back-to-back with Severus Snape.  
"I told you to stay in the school!" she shouted, an attacker's spell ricocheting off of her blade.  
"I will not stand by watching while a battle takes place around me," he replied grimly, parrying an Death Eater's sword.  
I didn't know he knew how to use a sword, she remembered thinking as the circle of enemies closed in.  
"We have to get out of here! It's a death trap!" he'd exclaimed, jabbing at a man fiercely.  
Sakura had come to the same conclusion.  
"Cover me!" she shouted back and then held Alleivuyae over her shoulder, soldier style, trusting Severus to fend the enemy off for a little while.  
She flicked the sword out in front of her, parallel to the ground and wizards were blasted away by an invisible force, so that a path was made in front of her.  
"Come on!" she shouted and pulled him behind her to more open ground. They were soon separated.  
Not long after Sakura found herself fighting in the same area as Dumbledore and Eriol. She was glad to see familiar faces before being immediately beset upon by werewolves in man-form with exceptional strength (thank God it wasn't the full moon or they'd have much more trouble on their hands), Death Eaters, and even a vampire. They closed in on her, so that when she glanced up to see that two battling giants were causing the ground to shake, she acquired several more cuts and was almost overwhelmed by a well-timed spell.  
She almost panicked when she saw Albus Dumbledore fall. the crowd she was trying to fight through was much too large and she felt her eyes fill with tears at the thought of this wizard dying.  
"ERIOL!" she screamed, voice raw, as she blasted several of the enemy out of her way, only to have them replaced by more.  
Eriol turned and saw Dumbledore about to die upon the blade of a Death Eater and immediately pointed his staff at the fallen wizard, as people hastily scrambled out of the way, thinking he was about to kill them.  
Sakura was so relieved that Albus had been protected she almost let her guard down, and a cut on the cheek reminded her that there was much more work to do yet.  
She returned grimly to the battle.  
"Albus Dumbledore," said Minerva McGonagall clearly, tapping the mirror on the left. Satisfied that he was all right she turned to the mirror on the right.  
"Tonks." She nodded her head at the image that appeared. Apparently the trolls had not been too much trouble, though she could see a few of the volunteers limping away as they followed Tonks to join the fray once more.  
"Severus Snape," she said next, and cursed under her breath. It appeared he had managed to join the army before the shield had been set up. The fool. He would be one of the most sought after for being a traitor.  
"Syaoran Li." His robes were torn and bloodied, but it appeared that most of it was not his blood.  
"Eriol Hiiragizawa." He was in much the same condition Syaoran was. He was near Sakura and Albus while Syaoran had somehow been relocated to the other end of the battlefield.  
Minerva was about to check on Sakura when she happened to glance at the mirror that showed Dumbledore just in time to see him blasted by an unfamiliar spell and thrown to the ground, blood soaking his robes and pooling around his body. She let out a small shriek and watched, horrified, as the unknown Death Eater raised his sword, evidently gloating, and bring it down to deliver the killing stroke - but it sliced through the earth and not a body. Albus Dumbledore had disappeared and in the moment the Death Eater hesitated, confused, Eriol blasted a hole through his chest, everything about the teen radiating fury.  
Totally ignoring the mirrors she frantically searched the map for the Headmaster. Finding him in the Hospital Wing - relief made her legs weak for a moment - she snatched the crystal ball communicator and practically sprinted there, snapping out Hannah's name and telling her to take over watching in the room and, for goodness' sake, don't forget to cast another Speaking Spell.  
Minerva burst into the room in time to see Kazemusuko breath lightly upon Dumbledore and a white mist flowed out over him and sank into his body, closing his open wounds. She could tell that the dragon had done this several times before. Hermione and Ron were watching worriedly as Poppy busied herself with another patient covered in blood with Draco to assist her. He turned out to have a surprising talent for healing.  
Kazemusuko had apparently decided to take over this healing.  
"How is he?" she asked her two Gryffindors quietly.  
"Kaze says he should be coming around soon," whispered Hermione.  
"Kaze?" asked Minerva, raising an eyebrow at the dragon.  
He gave a disdainful snort. "You occidentals are forever making a mess of Japanese names, especially when in a hurry."  
She could have sworn his scales took on a very light shade of pink, and suppressed a grin.  
At that moment Dumbledore stirred and muttered something unintelligible.  
Ron and Hermione exchanged grins before scurrying off to follow Madam Pomfrey's orders when she called for them sharply. Another patient had just arrived in terrible condition. If they didn't work quickly the patient's arm would be lost.  
Minerva turned her attention back to Albus, who had just opened his eyes.  
"Minerva?" he murmured bemusedly and sat up stiffly.  
"Lay down," she said irritably. "You almost died."  
He refused and could be just as stubborn as she was.  
"I'm needed on the field," he said and struggled to stand.  
Minerva looked around for Poppy and saw her washing blood from her hands, her patient in a fitful slumber. "Poppy," she called and the nurse took one look at the situation before hurrying over.  
"Albus Dumbledore, you were nearly dead when you appeared. You need rest, and lots of it, before you move around," ordered Poppy.  
"Nonsense," he replied. "I am perfectly capable of-"  
"You are not." Kaze had decided to step in and flew up to perch on Minerva's shoulder. She flinched at the unexpected action.  
Albus apparently hadn't noticed him and looked surprised.  
"Your magic is dangerously low, you're weakened by blood loss, and you are so exhausted that you're trembling. Mortals are very foolish when it comes to their strength."  
When he still looked rebellious the dragon added, "There is a reason Sakura-san wished for the school to stay within a shield. She does not want people killed, especially friends and children. She made sure to use only those willing to fight for the cause in the army. Had there not been such a large number of enemies she would have done without the volunteer army as well."  
Faced with two extremely stubborn women and a dragon, Albus Dumbledore backed down.  
Poppy Pomfrey and Kaze immediately busied themselves with other patients.  
"Accio wand," said Minerva, and pocketed his wand as he glared at her. "So you won't get any ideas," she explained and sat down next to his bed.  
"Who was that dragon?" he asked finally.  
"Kazemusuko. He's a friend of Sakura's and came to help."  
"Ah."  
The two were silent for a while.  
Minerva sighed and, to prevent him from doing something foolish, said, "Do you wish to see what's going on outside?"  
"Yes," he replied with a frown.  
Taking the smoky ball out of another pocket, Minerva tapped it. "Hannah Hooch." The smoke cleared and Minerva said, "How is everything?"  
"A mess," came the blunt reply. "I can't tell who's winning and watching for too long makes me feel sick to my stomach. I'll have nightmares for weeks."  
"I know," murmured Minerva, a slightly haunted look in her eye. Albus watched her in concern.  
Shaking her head she said, "I'm going to summon a mirror. I don't think Albus will be content if he doesn't know what's going on."  
He had been listening to this rather cryptic conversation about mirrors and snorted, pretending to be offended.  
"Yes, well, tell him he'll answer to me if he gets himself killed."  
Minerva laughed. "Will do," she replied and put the crystal away.  
"Accio magic mirror."  
After a moment a round mirror flew into the room. Albus watched warily as Minerva caught it and turned to him.  
"Sakura made this for me to watch what was happening. If you say the name of who you want to see and tap it with your wand," at this point he glared at her and she reluctantly handed his back, "it will appear in the mirror. As long as any trace of Sakura's power remains in that area. She figures she's been just about everywhere around and in the school, so that shouldn't be a problem."  
He nodded. "Sakura Kinomoto." He tapped the mirror with his wand.  
Sakura felt hope fill her heart even as she tripped over a bloody corpse and rolled beneath a spell. The moon was in the same position as in her dream and Syaoran was nowhere near her. She could feel his aura on the opposite end of the field, steady and strong as silver auras around him flickered and died.  
The future wasn't set in stone, after all. Perhaps it could be prevented.  
She should have known better.  
The Dark Lord's army was being beaten back, slowly but surely. Their inability to see and communicate with their leader had affected their organization and morale.  
"Fly!" Sakura took to the air in an attempt to see which area needed the most help. Mimicking Yue, she drew a bow in the air before her, the moon strengthening this ability. Drawing back she aimed at a group of wizards ganging up on Severus, their traitor, and let fly, confident she wouldn't hit the Potions professor.  
There was shouting coming from her left and she called out, "Shield!" in the knick of time as a jet of red light collided with the bubble of protection.  
Fed up, she sent a particularly nasty explosion at the witch, Bellatrix, and then dismissed her, making sure to keep her shield in place.  
Just then Hannah's voice came out of nowhere said, "People from the Ministry of Magic are coming. What should we do?"  
Sakura gritted her teeth, extremely vexed. She wanted to scream.  
"Make sure they come around over the lake if they're flying. Otherwise I'll get Meiling and them to let the shield over the school down for a moment so they can Apparate. You might want to be on the lookout in case a Death Eater or something gets in at the same time."  
"Will do," came the strained reply.  
"What happened to Minerva?" questioned Sakura quickly as she shot a stream of fire at a vampire beneath her.  
"She asked me to take over when Dumbledore was hurt."  
"Ah."  
Sakura felt their connection end and immediately explained the situation to the four who were holding up the shield. They agreed almost as soon as the shimmering cocoon around the school disappeared Ministry officials appeared outside the main doors with several pops.  
Immediately the shield was up again.  
She continued her patrol, passing Spinel Sun who was on the lookout for fallen soldiers, and assisting those who needed it.  
It was pretty much a one-on-one battle, where before it had been 2 or 3 to one in the Dark Lord's favor.  
A particular strong jet of light attracted her attention and she turned in time to see Sirius Black fly into a tree and pass out.  
"Cowards," she whispered as Malfoy and Crabbe (both senior) detached themselves and went slowly for him, in no hurry and probably eager to get rid of him in as painful a way as they could devise.  
"Cowards!" she shrieked, diving at them and dropping her Shield so she could kill them.  
It happened so quickly she had no time to change course.  
Bellatrix Lestrange blasted her with a Cutting Curse as soon as Shield disappeared.  
Sakura's spell had blasted Malfoy and Crabbe into a large boulder the same instant a gaping wound on the right side of her chest, above her breast, appeared.  
Her expression was one of surprise as she fell, her wings lasting only to soften the impact of the ground before disappearing into card form. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed. The pain was so intense that she nearly passed out as her lifeblood poured out upon the earth.  
She had enough presence of mind to keep her cards contained. They struggled against her, wanting to rip, to tear, to kill the ones who had done this to their beloved Mistress.  
No, she told them. You have not killed for me before and I refuse to let you do so now.  
Still they struggled with her as her magic leaked from her body with her blood.  
The moment seemed to stretch into eternity.  
"Zettai...daijoubu...dayo." Her last words rang out over the battle field.  
Syaoran was kneeling on the ground gripping his sword that he had struck into the ground to support him. He looked as if he had been physically wounded.  
Tomoyo screamed and the shield collapsed as her magic flared and responded to her distress by cracking the earth. A deep crevice began at her feet and stretched across the grounds catching many wizards by surprise. They fell to their death.  
Eriol blinked furiously, trying to hold back tears and looking, for once, lost.  
Meiling had immediately transported herself to the middle of the fighting, striking everyone near her.  
Touya would have joined them but for his father.  
"Touya, we need to hold the shield," reminded Fujitaka softly, pushing his daughter's death to the back of his mind, refusing to deal with it. "We're the only two who can and will do it."  
Reluctantly Touya stayed, fury still etched in every line of his face.  
The cards burst free and streamed into the air, speeding toward the stars, keening their sorrow.  
Minerva turned away from the mirror and Albus let it slip from his fingers, glass shattering as Sakura's life had.  
"She can't be," whispered Minerva as Albus tried to comfort her. "She can't be."  
Sakura had been an endless source of happiness and humor. She saw to the heart of a person and greeted everyone with cheerfully, no matter who you were. Without her it seemed as though all the happiness had fled and left behind a darkened, gloomy world.


	13. For Earthlier Things

Pirate: "But you're supposed to be dead!"  
Jack Sparrow: "I'm not?"  
-Pirates of the Caribbean  
Syaoran teleported himself to Sakura's side and fell to his knees, covering his face with his hands.  
"Sakura," he whispered, heartbroken, unaware that the war still raged around them.  
He kissed her unresponsive lips. Already her skin was growing cold to the touch, looking even more pale when compared to the bright red blood that stained her clothes and covered her body.  
With a roar he leapt to his feet, sword drawn, and hacked at any of the enemy who dared stand near his beloved.  
Glancing around and seeing Snape he said, "Call everyone back inside the castle and take - take Sakura...inside. We will take care of them and we can not guarantee that you will be unharmed."  
"No," replied Snape shortly. "They outnumber you at least 15 to 1."  
"It doesn't matter anymore!" Not in the mood to argue, Syaoran summoned Tomoyo and Meiling.  
"Have the army retreat inside by any means possible and make sure they bring...bring...h-her." His voice sounded hoarse, but he refused to let it waver.  
Immediately, eyes coldly watching the field and tears glittering upon their cheeks, Meiling and Tomoyo began playing two silver flutes. The spell they used them for was complex. Similar to the pied piper, it drew their army to the gates and inside the shield while the opposing army was left in a trance so that they wouldn't take advantage of the retreating backs.  
Only when the shield was back in place were they returned to normal and by then it was too late. No one could go in and none could come out.  
With a scowl on his face, Severus Snape carried Sakura's body inside the castle and into the Hospital Wing.  
He entered the room and the occupants immediately hushed. They had heard the news from Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall. This death, no more or less important than others' deaths, struck home mercilessly. This bright cheerful girl, this professor and protector, was dead for their cause.  
"What's going on outside?" asked Minerva. "Hannah said that we retreated." Her eyes, red and puffy, showed that she had been crying and Albus looked very grave.  
"Li and Daidouji enchanted us to make us leave the field. They want revenge, I think. It's suicide!" he burst out, slamming his fist on the table near the bed they had lain Sakura.  
No one spoke. They could only wait to see who else would fall in this war.  
As soon as the shield was back up Tomoyo let the anger and bitterness she had held back since her scream return. They would pay for the life of her best friend. They would pay dearly.  
Putting every bit of her enchantress power into her voice, she sang,  
"Let the rain come down and wash away my tears  
Let it fill my soul and drown my fears  
Let it shatter their hopes of a new day  
No new day for them."  
Her lyrics would insure that they would regret ever having touched her Sakura.  
Rain poured upon her, turning the ground into mud, and she couldn't tell if she was crying, or if the skies were doing it for her.  
Kero roared again and again, fire billowing forth from his mouth with power it had never had before. Groups of wizards and Dark creatures burst into flame and he could hear nothing but his own voice. Rage and sorrow tore his heart apart.  
Ruby Moon and Spinel joined him, spreading terror wherever they flew, seeking revenge.  
Yue was in a state of shock. It had taken him so long to warm up to his new mistress since Clow's death and now she had died and left him, just as Clow had done.  
His crystals tore his targets to pieces and his mind became a broken record. Why? Why? Why? it asked again and again and again.  
Eriol blasted energy from his staff wherever he wandered, sometimes killing them outright and sometimes causing them to fall into the bottomless crevice Tomoyo's power had created. His other half's daughter, one of his best friends, was dead. Dead. No longer alive, no longer full of energy. Dead. And it felt so wrong.  
Meiling did much the same as Eriol.  
Syaoran went immediately for Bellatrix. She lasted ten seconds at best.  
It was slaughter. Voldemort's army didn't stand a chance against the powerful rage of Sakura's friends. Corpses littered the field and the fire surrounding Harry Potter and Voldemort burned high, a tribute to its fallen creator. It would only go out when one of the wizards inside lay dead and that time was drawing near.  
We must save our Mistress.  
What can we do? Only five of us remain. The rest have fled.  
Time must be found.  
We do not have enough strength to save her. She was the only one who could sustain us.  
We have never tried. I do not want to let Mistress go without trying.   
Nor do we.  
This has never been attempted before. You are the only one to think of it.  
We must try. We must find Time.  
We will. For our Mistress we will.  
Harry was exhausted. He'd tried everything he could think of and Voldemort still stood, still fought. He was losing blood and it looked like he was losing the fight. How long had they been at it? Hours at least. It felt like weeks. He refused to give up, to go down without a fight. There was Ron and Hermione to consider after all. And Draco, unexpected though it had been. The students. The professors. The wizarding world. He couldn't give up when it all depended on him (though he thought that seemed a bit onceited).  
And all of a sudden Voldemort stood unarmed. Harry's last spell (Expelliarmus) had gotten under his guard.  
However, before he fully came to his senses, Voldemort leaped at him, striking like a snake.  
The wands flew out of his hands as he fell back, Voldemort at his throat.  
"Your pathetic mother's sacrifice won't save you now. All she did was in vain and now you'll die, just like your parents," hissed the Dark Lord as Harry gagged. His wind pipe was being crushed and darkness was hovering at the edge of his vision.  
His struggling became weaker and weaker.  
There was only one thing he could do.  
The voice in his dreams, Sakura's voice, had taught him this spell last. She had said to use it only when there was no hope left. It could kill him and would definitely drain him of any energy and magic.  
He concentrated. It required no wand and no words. Only magic and a strong will.  
Pain emanated from his scar and Voldemort let go of his neck with a yelp, staring at his hands. They were burnt, just as Quirrel's had been in his first year.  
Barely aware of gasping for air, Harry tried to maintain skin contact between the two of them.  
He seemed to glow with a golden light and Voldemort recoiled. He found that skin contact wasn't needed anymore as the rays of light touched Voldemort.  
The Dark Lord screamed, tryiing to escape, but Harry followed him and he received no relief from the Light.  
A pure sweet voice, much quieter than Voldemort's screams, but still clearly heard said in a sing-song voice, "Ashes to ashes, dust to dust..."  
With a final shriek Voldemort collapsed and dissolved with his immortality spells.  
Harry passed out a second later.  
The flames burned low and disappeared.  
Finally there was no one left. The night was silent throwing the bodies into shadow.  
Silently the warriors filed inside as the shield disappeared. There was no joy, no satisfaction in the death. There would be no peace of mind for weeks, months, perhaps years.  
Eriol was the last. Seeing the fire burn out he walked over, too worn out to teleport himself, even such a short distance.  
"Harry Potter."  
When the boy didn't stir he felt for a pulse. It was faint, but there, to his relief.  
He lifted the boy with a grunt and wearily carried him inside, heading to the Hospital Wing where the rest of his friends were gathered, where Sakura lay.  
He lay him gently on the bed next to Sakura.  
"He's alive," said Eriol before anyone could speak. "Just drained, exhausted."  
Kazemusuke stood over Harry, studying him for a moment before breathing on him. The white mist appeared and sank into his body. He did this twice more before the cuts healed themselves.  
Tomoyo turned to Dumbledore and sighed. "Hogwarts will be a much more restless place, I think. The grounds will be anyway. Without Sakura we can't lay the memories to rest."  
"What do you mean?" he asked quietly.  
"Eriol doused for dragon tracks - what you would call ley lines - as soon as we found out we were to be professors. Hogwarts is built where an unusual amount of them cross. It affects what and how the land remembers. A violent event like the fighting won't rest easily and Sakura must be present for us to help bury the memories. I just don't know what to do," said Tomoyo helplessly.  
"I'm sure we'll think of something," reassured Dumbledore.  
Just then there was a burst of bright light around Sakura's bed and everyone jumped. Seven spirits appeared.  
But you must have enough strength to turn back time for the Mistress alone, a girl with greenish cast to her skin and clothes with long hair and a mirror in her hands spoke to a hunched figure in robes that was holding an hourglass.  
I will not be able to go back far enough.  
Nonsense, said a pale figure with an everpresent wind about her. Mirror and Earthy will help sustain you.  
Do it. Now.  
Mirror and Earthy swirled around Time and he turned his hourglass.  
"What's happening?" asked Meiling.  
"I can't believe it," whispered Eriol reverently. "I - It's never been attempted - not even thought of!"  
"What?" asked Tomoyo crossly.  
This time Syaoran answered. "They're trying to perform a large work independently of Sakura, their source of power."  
"What are they trying to do, exactly?" asked Hermione in a small voice.  
"Judging from Sakura's body, I'd say they're trying to turn back time for her and save her," replied Eriol absently.  
"They can do that?"  
"So it seems. Look." Eriol pointed and Sakura's wounds seemed to be bleeding again, but backwards. It was an extremely eerie sight.  
That's...the best...I...can do.  
Immediately Twin, Firey, Watery, and Windy entered their Mistress. They had to work fast if they didn't want Sakura to die again.  
Firey sped through Sakura's veins, searing the infection as Watery washed it out and cleaned the wounds. Twin replenished her blood supply and Windy forced air into her lungs. Then they reappeared around the bed, their glow much diminished.  
"Kazemusuko! Quick!" said Syaoran.  
"Stand back," ordered the dragon, and then breathed upon her wounded shoulder. The blood pouring out slowed, and then stopped as a large scab appeared.  
"I cannot do more than that. We will have to wait for it to disappear and it will leave a scar."  
Tomoyo was sobbing tears of joy and everyone was grinning, ready to burst with joy.  
The spirits returned to their card forms.  
"The Cards will notice and begin to return, I think," said Eriol, a satisfied smirk playing on his lips.  
"They'd better. I doubt she wants to go through with catching all 52 again. Though it would be a bit easier," said Kero.  
"What about..." Unable to finish her sentence, Tomoyo gestured outside.  
"The Ministry officials are identifying bodies and wizards are coming to prepare them for funerals and burial," answered Dumbledore.  
"They're going to have a hell of a time," said Syaoran with grim satisfaction.  
Sakura slowly became aware of her surroundings. She wished the ceiling would stop swinging around. It was very blurry too.  
She blinked a few more times and managed to get the ceiling into focus. That was better.  
Then she became aware of the pain and moaned. She hurt. Everywhere.  
"So you're awake."  
A face appeared in view and she recoiled violently. "Oh my God! It's Satan! I've gone to hell!"  
Someone chuckled to her right. No, it sounded like two people.  
"She's got you pegged," said a familiar voice.  
"Syaoran?" she murmured, now extremely confused.  
"Yep."  
"Am I dead?" she asked plaintively.  
"Of course not," replied a third person. She turned her head and saw Dumbledore seated next to Syaoran. Eriol stood behind them pretending to look hurt.  
"You were," said Eriol.  
"I was," repeated Sakura.  
"You're not anymore."  
"I'm not anymore," echoed Sakura, now thoroughly confused.  
"Are you sure the Cards didn't mess up? I think something's wrong with her brain."  
"Shut up," scowled Sakura, throwing her pillow at Eriol.  
"Why, thank you," he said, catching it.  
"You're infuriating," she muttered clutching her head. It felt like it was going to explode and implode at the same time.  
Poppy Pomfrey entered the room with a vile looking drink. "Take this, dear. It should help. And you three, out."  
"Wait," protested Sakura, holding the bottle. "I want to know what happened."  
"You can find out later," said Poppy with a sniff, as if she didn't think much of Sakura's priorities.  
"Drink that, and we'll tell you if you feel better," suggested Eriol.  
"Fine." Sakura glared at him, and then held her nose as she chugged it down. It was so disgusting she couldn't bear to think about describing it.  
Immediately she felt her eyes grow heavy and fought a large yawn. Her aches were mostly cured. What little pain there was seemed to come from far away, from someone else entirely.  
"Traitors, all of you," she muttered as the sleeping potion kicked in.  
She woke the next day around noon to find Tomoyo, Minerva, and Remus watching her.  
"What happened?" she asked immediately.  
"How are you feeling?" asked Minerva instead.  
"Fine," Sakura lied through her teeth. Is anyone going to tell me what happened?!"  
"Have this first," said Tomoyo, holding out a potion.  
"Oh no," said Sakura. "I am not falling for that again."  
"I thought you might feel that way," said Tomoyo.  
"Will someone please tell me what happened? Or I'll-"  
"You'll what?" asked Tomoyo smugly. "Your magic hasn't regenerated yet."  
"What I'm planning to do doesn't need magic," replied Sakura darkly.  
"Fair enough," agreed Remus amiably. "We'll answer your question if you answer ours."  
Sakura muttered under her breath, but agreed grudgingly.  
"I found this next to my bed after the fighting was over with," began Remus, holding up the bauble that contained the spell to make his transformations to wolf form like that of an Animagus. "Why not wait to give it to me after everything was done?"  
"Ummm...because I didn't want to lose it," lied Sakura blandly.  
Shit, she thought. I think they're on to me.  
"How do I get it to work?"  
Sakura frowned. What were the conditions she had placed on it? She didn't have magic at the moment, so she had to rely on memory.  
"You'll have to get Syaoran or Eriol, or somebody to work it for you. It should have worked automatically, as soon as you touched it, but I was supposed to be...uh." Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!  
"Dead?" asked Tomoyo sweetly.  
"Ummm...yeah." Uh oh. They were going to kill her. She could see it.  
"You knew you were going to die?!" shrieked Tomoyo.  
"Now it's your turn to answer my question!" Sakura raised her voice to be heard over Tomoyo.  
"And you didn't tell us?!"  
"What happened after I died?!" bellowed Sakura. "And why am I not dead?" she asked as an afterthought.  
"Well, your friends forced our army back into the castle and then went on a rampage," replied Minerva. "Then they came back with Harry, who was half-dead himself, and brought him to the Hospital Wing. Some of your Cards appeared and turned back time for your body and healed you part way. Kaze finished the healing. Then you slept for a week, the students went home three days ago, Harry has just finished recovering and will be going to live with Sirius Black tomorrow, as will Draco Malfoy, since his father is dead and his mother missing. Hermione and Ron are also here, since we couldn't tear them away from Harry's side. Am I missing anything?"  
"The dragon tracks," reminded Tomoyo.  
"Oh yes. They set the grounds to rest as soon as you returned to life. They said your presence was enough to work with."  
"Everyone's been checking up on you," added Remus. "And I mean everyone in a literal sense."  
"And not even a flower to show for it?" said Sakura with a mock pout.  
"Actually, it wouldn't all fit. We moved it to a spare room," replied Minerva.  
"A very large spare room," added Tomoyo  
"Jeez," said Sakura. Not wanting to deal with such an overload of information she asked instead, "Have my Cards returned?"  
"From what I heard, Mist and Rain are the last two and on their way," Tomoyo informed her.  
"That's good," replied Sakura sleepily. She was feeling worn out. "Where's Syaoran?"  
The three of them hid grins. "He didn't want to leave you even though he was suffering from sleep deprivation. Eriol knocked him out and is, I believe hiding from him at the moment," said Tomoyo.  
"Your boyfriend's true name is Satan. Did you know that?" Sakura mumbled as she drifted of to sleep.  
Tomoyo blushed and refused to look at Minerva and Remus.


	14. Epilogue: All Good Things Must Come to an End

Two days later Sakura was allowed out of the Hospital Wing. Her magic was extremely slow in regenerating, especially since most of it automatically went toward speeding up her healing. As a result she was almost perfectly healthy, aside from sore muscles.  
It was breakfast and there were few people eating in the Great Hall, it being summer break.  
"Big brother's watching you," Sakura murmured to Syaoran in between large bites of pancakes. Her appetite lately was reminiscent of Yukito's.  
Syaoran glanced down the table and met Touya's gaze, glare for glare. He seemed to be trying to bore a hole in Syaoran's head with his eyes only. Unfortunately, Syaoran's Death Glare, which usually made grown men scream and hide in fear, seemed to be nullified. Touya certainly wasn't running away.  
"I'm happy he's leaving today," Syaoran replied under his breath. Since Sakura had almost fully recovered and Fujitaka couldn't really afford to miss work for too much longer, he was going back home after breakfast and taking Touya with him.  
Meiling was also leaving, escorted by Ruby Moon and Spinel Sun. The elders requested that she return to be fully trained in her magic. They would rather she didn't lose control again.  
Sakura sighed and pushed back her chair. "I think I'm going to pack my stuff."  
"But we're not leaving for a couple days at least," protested Syaoran, finally breaking off the glaring contest to look at her.  
"I know," she replied, "but I haven't even begun and if I'm going to be running around looking for things at the last minute, I'd rather it not be everything."  
"Should I go with you?" he asked.  
"That's okay," she said, standing. With a vague smile at the rest of those eating, she exited and headed to her room. Once there, however, she only half-heartedly threw some items into her suitcase before sitting on the window ledge with her knees drawn up to her chest, staring at the lake.  
"See anything interesting?" came a familiar voice.  
Sakura yelped, nearly falling off the ledge. "Hasn't anyone told you that you're supposed to knock before entering a room?" she asked Eriol.  
"Syaoran tells me that nearly five times a day, and then follows it up with a death threat or two," Eriol replied brightly.  
"I think I'll go for a walk," Sakura said suddenly and lowered herself down to the ground, wincing as her muscles protested the movement.  
"Outside?" Eriol questioned in an I-know-something-you-don't-know-and-I-don't-think-I'm-going-to-tell-you tone.  
"Ummmmm, yeah."  
"Shall we?" he said gallantly and with a flourish teleported the two of them to a side door facing the lake.  
"What aren't you telling me?" Sakura demanded, hesitating before putting her hand on the door handle.  
"Nothing at all," replied Eriol blandly, fingers crossed behind his back.  
Sakura slowly opened the door after a sharp glance at Eriol. Immediately she was seeing spots as lights flashed in her face and voices clamored, shouting to be heard above the others. She had no idea what they were asking and slammed the door as quickly as possible.  
"What was that?" she asked dazedly, blinking to clear her vision of the after-images.  
"Reporters. No matter what Dumbledore does they still seem to crop up. Rather like weeds," Eriol added as an afterthought. "We've been stuck inside for days."  
"I think I'll just go pack," said a thoroughly disgruntled Sakura.  
Later that day, after dinner, Sakura was resting on a couch in the teacher's lounge toying idly with her key as she read the letter from her father.  
Dear Sakura,  
We have finally decided to take your advice and ward the house against unwanted influences (reporters, thought Sakura. How on earth did they find out where I lived?). To teleport home you need a password. I'll only give you a hint should this letter fall into the wrong hands (coughcoughreporterscough). The card that worked in you Final Judgement. Have a safe trip home!  
Love,  
Your Otousan  
"Professor Kinomoto?" came a timid voice and Sakura stuffed the letter in her pocket before tilting her head back to glance at the door.  
"Call me Sakura," she told Hermione, Ron, Harry, and Draco firmly. "What would you like?"  
"We - er - that is," Hermione stuttered.  
"Just spit it out already," muttered Draco, nudging her in the side.  
She glared at him.  
"We just wanted to thank you for, you know, everything," interrupted Harry.  
"You're welcome," replied Sakura touched.  
"Are you coming back next year?" asked Ron curiously.  
Sakura shook her head. "Not to teach. I might come visit now and again, though."  
"It's going to be different with Voldemort truly gone," said Harry thoughtfully.  
"Yeah. Potter's nearly died every year he's been here. You've ruined the tradition," said Draco with a wicked grin.  
Sakura chuckled. "Don't let Eriol hear you say that or he'll remedy your boredom.  
Harry looked rather alarmed.  
"You're leaving tomorrow morning, yes?" Sakura changed the topic.  
The four of them nodded.  
"How're you going to get passed the reporters?"  
The four of them shuddered at the thought.  
"Ron and I are going to Floo home," answered Hermione.  
"Professor Dumbledore enlarged my Invisibility Cloak so Sirius, Draco, and I can use it. We're going to get a portkey in Hogsmeade," Harry replied.  
"I'll miss you," said Sakura with a lopsided grin as she stood. To her surprise Hermione launched herself at her and hugged her.  
"We'll miss you too. Without you none of this would have been possible," murmured Hermione.  
Sakura had to work hard to keep her tears from spilling over and down her cheeks.  
Sakura looked around at the professors. They were the only ones left in the school to see the six of them off. It was rather amusing to be honest.  
"Uh uh. No way in hell are you controlling this transport. You're just going to stand there nicely and provide us power. Tomoyo can do it, Keroberos can do it, Yue can do it, heck, I'll do it. I don't trust you not to leave us hanging 100 feet off the ground again, especially since Sakura doesn't have enough magic to save herself yet and I'll be damned if I let you get her killed again!" Syaoran was ranting at Eriol per usual.  
"Why, I never knew my cute little descendant was afraid of heights," said Eriol with mock surprise.  
"That wasn't what I meant and you know it," growled Syaoran.  
"Are we leaving anytime soon?" demanded Tomoyo. "I'd like to get back before Christmas if you don't mind."  
She grabbed Syaoran and put him in his spot in the circle before doing the same to Eriol.  
"All right, children. I'll control where we end up, and don't you dare make me stop this transport."  
"Yes ma'am," the two boys muttered rebelliously.  
"I'll pretend I didn't hear that."  
Everyone waved good bye as Tomoyo rattled off the coordinates. "Windy." Tomoyo ended with the password that allowed them to teleport directly into Sakura's house, and the group faded from view.  
"It will be much quieter with them gone," commented Severus.  
"No kidding," muttered Minerva.  
They weren't fooling anyone. Like everyone else, they would miss the Cardcaptor group.


End file.
